These Are the Wars
by Tobias Mason Park
Summary: Mistakes in the past have drastic effects on the future. The Andalite-Yeerk war has escalated, and Earth is divided into Free and Occupied societies. All that stands in the way of the Yeerks is the underground Resistance of New York, and David Matherson.
1. My Name is David

"People of the planet formerly known as Earth…you are unaware of this at the moment, but your planet as you know it is undergoing an Intergalactic Invasion…"

Ten years ago, on the 24th of November, 2000, a group of five humans and a blue alien organized a broadcast message that had been, by means formerly unknown by every political government on the planet, beamed to every television and radio station of every country, on every continent on Earth. This group, really composed of children no older than sixteen or seventeen years of age, had sent a warning; parasitic aliens, known as the Yeerks, had enslaved the human race, and said human race has been undergoing an Invasion since the late sixties. Initially, the entire broadcast was denounced as a hoax; a clever hoax that had been orchestrated by some admittedly intelligent children.

On the evening of the 24th of November, a mere six hours after the "Hoax", six spaceships– later identified as Bug Fighters– flew over my home town in California; as well as countless towns and cities over the known world. I was out with my current girlfriend for a night on the town when the first spaceship flew over our heads, only to be followed by three more. It had been broadcasted on every news station on the planet: "These are not your father's Aliens" Alexander Bratford had announced, wearing a look of pure fear upon his face.

The morning of the 25th of November, a second warning had been broadcasted…but not by a group of war-tired teenagers, aimed at saving the earth from our invisible enemy, the Yeerks. No, this new messenger, who bore a similar resemblance to the blue alien that had been a part of that rebel group, the Animorphs– later identified as an Andalite– sent us an ultimatum; surrender to the Yeerk Empire as Voluntary Hosts, or be taken by force. Naturally, everyone had panicked, and nobody was ready to denounce this message as a clever hoax.

I have been fighting as a member of the Rebellion for six years of the ten year War for Earth, between the parasitic Yeerk Empire and its host bodies– which included Hork-Bajir, Taxxon, Gedds, Humans, as well as a single Andalite– and the Human race. The War was officially declared by the United Nations on the 1st of December, and has henceforth been known as "The Night of Action". I can safely say that the War for Earth did not truly begin until the Andalites got involved a year after that meeting of the U.N. And it is because of advanced technology of our Blue Brothers in Arms that the human race had lasted a year of fighting. The Resistance, otherwise known as Freedom Fighters and the "Alternamorphs", was only established once the Free World Leaders and the occupying Andalite forces determined the Free Military from that of the Yeerk controlled forces; roughly two years after the 1st of December, 2000.

The first three years of war, with all of its hysteria and lack of organization, were possibly the worst few years in the whole of history; man was fighting against man– or, at least those originally believed to be men– neighbours became suspicious of other neighbours and family members, and then there were those god-awful raids.

Six months into the war, the people of Earth became a smidge desperate, and decided that the best chance of survival was to adopt an "every man for himself" mentality, and chaos ensued. The raids lasted a mere six weeks before the Andalites had managed to get things back into order, and even then not even the Andalites could repair the massive damage to property, least of all the psychological damage suffered by the humans. The Yeerks had brought us all into a cruel war, and morale had declined substantially after the first brutal year of the War for Earth.

Eventually, the entire planet had been split into Free and Yeerk Controlled: every country, of every continent– whether poor or developed– had been split into Free and Seized, and had been spearheaded by two official heads of government. In my home country of the United States, we had been ruled by President Lawrence Fields, a free republican who held the firm belief that, "With strong and frequent prayer, the Lord will provide". Meanwhile, the Yeerks were lead by a political figure known as Visser 49, whose host body had been a female woman named Marlene Plight; America had finally gotten a female president. To be honest, seeing to as how both Fields and Plight had both been incompetent, and both had been driven by devotion to their faith or empire, I'm not to sure which one of us is better off– humans or Yeerks?

Eventually, it had been agreed upon by the Animorphs– those teenagers who had attempted to warn us of the Invasion– and the occupying Andalites, that the Free Military should be given extra powers, in addition to the Andalite technology they had been given; thus, the Military had been given the ability to morph. That power, however, had been restricted to the Military up until the third or fourth year of the War for Earth, when the Rebellion had been devised as a means of extra manpower; but really we were recruited for suicide missions. Regardless of our position in this war, as puppets used to carry out missions too risky for our precious Soldiers in Arms to carry out, we had been given this power to morph.

My name is David Alexander Matherson, and I am an Alternamorph.


	2. What It Means To Be

**What It Means To Be: **

I had heard stories about hell as a small child from my parents, who had always been overly religious. By the age of six I had become quite familiar with the book of Revelation: the fire, brimstone and the horsemen of Apocalypse; the sounds of the trumpets playing in the wind; the smell of rotting flesh coming from the corpses of the dead; Behemoth and Leviathan; death, war, famine and pestilence–complete and utter chaos. And, when chaos finally sets in, and the world is reduced to dust, the Lord will judge us; some of us will be allowed entrance to paradise, while other will suffer eternal damnation. Purgatory will be a thing of the past.

The stories about hell that I used to hear during my youth, where masturbation and petty theft was a constant, was nothing compared to the hell that I am living presently here on earth. Water has been reduced, not yet to magma and ash, but sludge-like cesspools filled with parasitic aliens no larger than two inches, and yet all the more deadly. The air was always alive with Kandrona rays, feeding those parasitic beasts in the pools below, and not radiation and lightning. Fire and earthquakes were not yet present–at least not in my part of the world– but monsters still ran rampant.

Unfortunately, the Apocalypse had not yet arrived, and I fear that mankind has a decade or two left before reality collapses and for the real hell to begin. Sometimes, I lie awake at night, contemplating suicide, just so I can escape from the reality that I've come to know as the twenty-first century. And I have a great deal of methods too choose from: overdosing on pills, or shooting myself– if I wish for the quick and painless method– or something more drastic like self-sacrifice; throwing myself into one of the many Yeerk pools that lie beneath the streets of Occupied New York, and setting off the bomb that is strapped around my body. I wouldn't be a hero…I would just become another martyr. Lord knows, there are too many pools to bomb, and only one renegade crazy enough to even consider taking such an action. The world doesn't need anymore martyrs.

Despite these thoughts, and the dreams I have of a paradise that is beyond my own reach, I never actually resort to killing myself; I'm too much of a coward to even pick up a tablet, let alone strap myself to a fucking bomb.

Nowadays, they'll let any civilian the opportunity to gain morphing capabilities; anyone who isn't a controller, of course. And that's precisely how I got involved in this whole mess in the first place. I volunteered. I had already been well into my twenties, and a lot closer to my thirties than I was willing admit, when the Animorphs announced that the earth was being invaded. Prior to the war, I was a working actor, who usually appeared in small time films that never made it to the theaters. When I wasn't working on another failed project, I was working at the docks with my uncle to earn a bit of money to make rent.

Civilians were the last to be given morphing privileges–these people varied from the hardworking pacifists, to the homeless with no other options, and the loonies who would throw themselves into the war just to get a thrill out of it. I'm still not sure of which category I fit into. I was something of a hardworking citizen, and I guess I once was peaceful before the war began. I was technically homeless, since a lot of free citizens started claiming refugee status once the Yeerks declared open war, and I never had much money in the first place. And, suddenly, I became very patriotic. Here was my chance to make a difference, to die for America; and if you died during service, you became a hero.

So now I'm a soldier in a war that will inevitably end in the defeat of the Human race. Those given the morphing power were usually dead within a month, because, unlike the soldiers of the Free Military, they were not properly trained to use this amazing gift. Some people actually overstayed the two hour time limit, and lived out the remainder of their lives as much simpler creatures. I never did find out what happened to my fellow comrades who chose this path of nothlitism. Nothlitism was another option that I had been too cowardly to consider.

It gets worse. The years are at war as well–a Civil War. I'm a bit hazy on my history, but at some point in time, there was a schism in the Yeerk Empire and two Vissers–these were Yeerk generals– decide that they each had their own ideas about how the Empire should be organized. These two Vissers then took a group of their own followers and caused some trouble for their superiors–the Council of Thirteen. Then, some low ranking Yeerks, perhaps tired of the old ways of the Empire, broke away and joined these two revolutionaries; thus breaking the Empire into Orthodox– the Empire that originated sometime back in the sixties– and the Darmenian and Sarphonian sects. Apparently, the Yeerks have some things in common with the Protestants–neither can decide where they belong.

Me, I was born a catholic, and I remain a catholic to this day; though, I think I'm more religious than I had been as a child, listening to the horror stories that my parents once read to me. My parents used to tell me that Satan had demons, and I've always believed that the Yeerks were those demons. So, I guess that makes the Andalites a Godsend.

It had been the Andalites who gave us a shred of hope of winning this war, when they finally landed on Earth and made their presence known. Now, after a few years of fighting, the Andalites are just as hopelessly fucked as the rest of us. There are only a few hundred Andalites per continent, excluding Asia and Africa; though, this has always puzzled me. Personally, I had never met an Andalite, as they are mostly assigned to help the Military, or otherwise help their own race fight in space, but I have seen a half a dozen Andalites in passing.

I should also mention the lack of organization on the part of the humans; we have something of a schism as well. First and foremost, we have the Animorphs–the head honchos themselves, the kids who led the underground resistance for all those years before the War for Earth. Mainly, the Animorphs fight up in space with the Andalites, trying to crack the Empire from the inside. I've only ever seen the faces of these Animorphs on wanted posters and television broadcasts, and to this day I am astounded that by the fact that the fate of the Universe lies in the hands of…well, children.

Then there are the ground forces; this is the Free Military of Earth. The Soldiers of the Free Military are morph capable, and allied with every other Free Nations' Military. It is the Free Military who sees the most action, and who are the most recognized.

Finally, you get guys and gals like me– the Resistance. We're mainly Free Citizens who are broken up into units, sections, or divisions led by a military official– usually WWII Veterans. The Resistance is based in war-torn towns and cities. We're composed of humans and Hork-Bajir, mostly, but we'll get the odd Taxxon or Gedd in certain divisions.

I was assigned to a small group based in my home town–whose name is irrelevant at the present time– in the city of Free New York. There are only six of us, excluding our leader, Zane, who had been kicked out of the military for misconduct, and was only ever a low ranking Officer to begin with. We also have two free Hork-Bajir, whose names I cannot pronounce without getting tongue tied; so I just call them Dax and Zar. There rest of us are ordinary humans; all of us either misfits or failures, fighting in a war to achieve some sort of dream or to gain a sense of belonging. We aren't exactly heroes.

I'm on good terms with everybody in my division, save for Zane; there was something about his overall attitude that I disliked. He is cocky, and ignorant of pretty much everything ranging from culture to current events. I have never met another human being so committed to the Philosophy of Solipsism. Truthfully, I wouldn't depend on Zane to have my back on the battlefield.

Then, there's Anthony Fletcher, the Canadian. He is the most optimistic person that I have ever met, and he has lost more in this war than anyone else in my division; his wife had died while giving birth to her child–who also had died in the process– and the two children that he had left became controllers. Fletcher always told me, whenever I asked him how he could be so damn happy, "They won't have to suffer any more pain, and for that I am thankful." Usually, people who have an overly optimistic attitude all the time piss me off, but I liked my Canadian brother in arms; Fletcher was probably my best friend.

Dax and Zar volunteered to be a part of the Resistance, because those of us defending cities like New York see little action and the Hork-Bajir are generally a passive race. However, a majority of the Hork-Bajir have been assigned to the Free Military as soldiers, for the obvious reason: their immense size, and those blades that are melded to their skin. Dax and Zar bring a sort of comic relief to this whole experience–life at the front, I mean– and I imagine that they would be the sort of characters that Shakespeare would write up.

Maria Louise Lawson is one of three female warriors, though her gender does not imply that she is passive, compassionate or dainty. Maria is the sort of girl that no man would dare fuck with– handy with artillery and morphing powers. If Ares, the god of War, ever had an anima, it would have been Maria. I don't know a lot about Maria Louise Lawson, other than the fact that she gets a thrill out of battle – which, to her dismay, does not come to the Resistance very often– and that she's strikingly beautiful. I would say that Maria is just one of the guys, but I like the use of both my legs…

Finally, we have Olivia and Sandra Bates; twin sisters who lost their entire family– immediate and extended–to the Yeerks. The Bates clan had been the opposition to one particular high ranking Visser stationed on Earth, who saw their opposition as an imposition and, perhaps out of lack of anything better to do, made it his business to assure that the Bates family was no longer a threat; leaving Olivia and Sandra, miraculously, the sole surviving members of the Bates lineage.

We're a committed group, but we don't really see much action. Our duty is simple: protect and assist any remaining inhabitants of Free New York– and these numbered in the low hundreds– and to detain any invading forces.

There are two problems that are attached with being a member of the Resistance– or Alternamorphs, as Fletcher has dubbed us: 1) It's a damn bore, and 2) when the Military did have use for us, it usually involved participation in missions deemed too suicidal to risk properly trained soldiers; thus, they call guys and gals like me. We had one member of our division, before Olivia and Sandra had been assigned to us, named Tyler Oaks, who had been called for an "Important mission on behalf of his country, nation, and planet!"

I never saw Tyler Oaks again, and I doubt if he's even alive today. If he is alive, then his fate does not look good; the only alternatives to dying would be infestation, or torture. I pray that Tyler met a quick and painless death; one that would be fitting for a hero.


	3. The Queen Reagent

The Queen Reagent

I was in for a rude awakening on the morning of the 10th of October, somebody suddenly becomes aware of something negative— the reality of leaving home for College, for example— then he, or she, is said to "be in for a rude awakening". I am not a particular fan of clichés— mainly because they are dull and lack originality— but I can actually appreciate this one: rude awakening; it pretty much sums up my entire morning.

I am used to waking up to the sounds of my fellow Alternamorphs, early in the morning, telling me to get my ass out of bed and get ready to make my rounds. Usually, Fletcher wakes me up, holding half-a-cup of coffee in one hand, while nudging me with another, and tells me to "rise and shine". I'm actually quite vibrant once I'm awake, so it doesn't take me long to get out bed, and to get into gear— I use the word gear for lack of a better word, because the Resistance was never issued "gear" per se; we were allowed whatever pistols or riffles that the military donated after the discovery of Andalite shredders. A proper military would also be given a uniform: standard issue khakis for camouflage purposes, and a backpack to carry the essentials whilst on patrol. The Resistance, however, was not given this luxury. Instead, each division would have each of its members dress up in black or grey— usually leotards— that would be appropriate for battle. Our division dressed up simply: black t-shirts and a pair of jeans.

That day, on the 10th of October, 2009, I was given a rude awakening. My eyes fluttered open to a rather interesting sight: cleavage. Maria Louise stared down at me, standing right on my mattress, with a crazy grin on her face; a frightening sort of grin that I have rarely seen. She was dressed entirely in black, and she wore a pair of dull brown boots. Her hair was always cut short, so that she would be more agile in battle, and to prevent the enemy from grabbing the back of her head. Maybe it had been the way she had been dressed at the time, or maybe it was the AK-47 that was propped up against the wall behind her, but I did not like that grin on her face.

"Wake up, Matherson." She said. Maria Louise had a habit of calling everyone she knew by their surnames; the sort of habit one picks up in the military. "We have some Yeerks to kill, my friend.

As I've already said, the Resistance rarely ever sees much action, and even during those rare instances where the action does come along it never really involves much fighting. Usually, we are threatened by a small group of renegades, who are neither members of the Resistance, nor a part of the Opposition, but there is never much shooting involved; the renegades usually back off once they get a look at Dax and Zar. We did fight and kill three controllers— human controllers— who crossed the Greenline separating Occupied and Free New York. Otherwise, my comrades and I have a relatively simple job.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me!" I said incredulously. I was changing into a pair of blue jeans, and had been looking for a black t-shirt as Maria Louise gave be the debriefing. According to Dax and Zar, who typically make rounds around the Free city, about two dozen controllers were advancing towards the first check point of the Greenline and about to cross into Free New York. In the past, one or two controllers— three at the most— would attempt to crossa the Greenline to capture more human hosts. After repeated failures, and after realizing that the remaining inhabitants of Free New York— the disabled, dying, sick and homeless— were ill-suited hosts, they brought an end to these raids. Now, for reasons completely beyond me, the Yeerks were making an unprovoked attack on my section of the City? Something strange was going down, and I did not like it.

"According to Dax and Zar, more than half of them are Hork-Bajir!" Maria Louise said, excitedly. "And they also spotted a few taxxons!"

I doubt I will ever understand what exactly made Maria Louise so battle hungry; it almost seemed as though the woman got some sort of sexual thrill out of it. She was still raving on about the weapons they were carrying and the size of some of the Hork-Bajir while I prepped my AK-47 and attached a ring of hand grenades around my belt; though, I was completely aware of how futile man made guns and grenades would be against full-grown Hork-Bajir.

"Am I to assume that these controllers are armed with Dracon beams?" I said, once again realizing the futility of such a question.

"They sure are soldier." She said, smiling, "Each and every one of them."

"Just great" I moaned, following her outside of the bunkhouse and out onto the field where my fellow Alternamorphs were standing. Everybody had been present, except for the Officer. Zane Leeds left us a week before, after he received a notice from a friend of his in the Free Military; something involving the Yeerks, I'm almost certain. Fortunately, we haven't seen Leeds in about a week. Unfortunately, that means that Maria Louisde, the Nympho-Warrior Princess, was in charge of the division. To be honest, I wasn't sure of which person was worst of the job: Leeds, with his "Listen to me or you're taxxon food", or Maria Louise, who was most likely crazy.

We were all standing in a small semi-circle, with Maria Louise pacing back and forth with her AK-47 leaning against her shoulder. I doubt if a single one of us, apart from the Queen Reagent of course, who had been confident about victory; we were not trained and, thus, not very good soldiers, if I am to be perfectly honest. I couldn't speak for Fletcher or the others, but I was just hoping that the battle would be as quick and painless, and result in the least amount of causalities as possible. Fletcher was listening intently to what the Queen Reagent had been barking orders to the group. The Bates twins did what they were good at: they stood together, away from the rest of the group, and kept silent. Dax and Zar, those passive tree-huggers, stood towering over the entire division; both standing at an astounding 9 feet in height, and both quite deadly if they chose to be— meanwhile, Zar had smelt a rose that looked like an ant in his massive palm. Maria Louise, looking beautiful even as she shot her mouth off, stood like Wellington before his troops, barking orders.

"Matherson, listen up!" Maria Louise barked. "Do you want to be the only one to get shot today?"

I am usually quite sarcastic, but I tend to be very quiet and awkward when I'm nervous about something; this is particularly why I rarely said boo when exam week came around during my high school days. So, rather than provide the Queen Reagent with a snide and witty remark, I shook my head and said, "No, ma'am, I apologize."

"Alright, here's the plan for those who _weren't _listening," she snapped. "By now, the Yeerks are advancing towards Free New York— they may already be here— so we have to be quick. I'm sure that we will be meeting a few other divisions along the way— _do not_ interfere with these people; focus on your own team!

"We will break up into groups of two— well, one group will have three, since Leeds isn't here. I think Dax and Zar should be broken up; we will have Dax with Fletcher, and Zar with Matherson. I want the Bates sisters together, for obvious reasons. I guess I'll be teaming up with you, Matherson." She nodded in my direction. "Now, we will have Dax and Fletcher move towards the controllers, while Matherson, Zar and I will come from the east side. We will surprise the fuckers by having the Bates sisters morph Hork-Bajir."

I gulped, nervously. "Um…we're going to morph?"

"I want the Bates twins to morph because, for some reason, they are the only ones who have a firm grasp of morphing," she said. "Aside from that, are there any questions?"

Nobody had a problem with the Queen Reagent's plan, or we were just too nervous about the battle to bother adding any suggestions.

"Perfect. Let's get ready to go."

What was it the Ramones said?

Hey, Oh, Let's go!


	4. The Sleeping Aphrodite

The Sleeping Aphrodite

We marched in a straight line towards our objective; that being the eastern end of Free New York where Maria Louise believes the Yeerks will be advancing. The Queen Reagent covered the front, while Zar held up the back; leaving the pathetic specimen known as David Matherson to be sandwiched between the Nympho-Warrior and the nine foot pacifist alien. I wasn't very keen on Maria Louise's decision to walk in silence. What I needed most was a discussion to take part in; anything really, as long as it took my mind off of the dozens of Hork-Bajir and Taxxons that awaited our arrival at the other side of the city. And when I did make an attempt to start a conversation, I was yelled at and ordered to keep my mouth shut; lest I give our position away to the enemy. I didn't bother to point out that the enemy was on the other side of Free New York, or that, even if the enemy had heard us, it would have been the Queen Reagent's shouting, not my questioning, that would have given away our position. I also tried to sing along to some of the Ramones' many tunes in my head, but my anxiety over the oncoming battle was a continuous distraction. I couldn't even get through She's the One, and that is one of the groups simpler compositions. By then, I had tried to keep myself busy by taking a look at my surroundings.

When the Yeerks declared war and finally made their presence on Earth known, large cities like New York, Toronto, London, Paris—any city with major monuments, really— became primary targets; and monuments like the Eifel Tower and the Statue of Liberty became known strongholds for the Yeerk Empire. Other buildings, like the CN Tower had been levelled as a sign of the complete might of the Empire. Then, the Yeerks took advantage of this mass destruction of the planet's greatest architectural achievements to build their own; the most famous of these "Post-mankind" buildings is the _Tower Kandrona_, which had replaced Toronto's CN Tower as the city's main monument during the Year Three of the War. And America—or, rather, those few free Americans— wept as a high ranking Visser evicted the reigning president from his home in Washington and declared the White House as another stronghold of the Empire. Those few monuments that had remained intact, and had not become a base of operation for those parasitic demons, were the few that the Yeerks found particular interest in; these became something like archaeological sites. For some reason, the Yeerks have an odd obsession with the Pyramids of Egypt.

I no longer felt a attachment to this strange place, formerly known as New York. When I signed up as a member of the Resistance, I had been asked to as where I would prefer to be stationed. I had been born and raised in NYC—the Big Apple—so naturally I chose to be stationed back home.

But home had been destroyed years ago, long before this awful war had begun. I got to an age where I was not so impressionable where my parent's religious affiliations had been concerned, and I was frequently getting into fights with my father about his devout Catholic Values; and fighting became all the more frequent when I had begun to show interest in joining the Lutheran faith. Though Lutheranism is not nearly as glamorous, or visually appealing as that of Catholicism, and while it lacked the depressing images that the Romanticists had been so hung up about, the religion did appeal to me. It focused more on the teachings of God and Christ present in the Bible, and less on ritual; which the Catholics got a good kick out of. The ritual and mysticism of Catholicism didn't really appeal to the Protestants, and it sure didn't have much of an effect on me; I must stress that my parents used these dark images of death and Apocalypse to scare me into obeying God. I did not want to be frightened into serving my God, so the Protestants—who taught, rather than told— gave me a more positive alternative.

However, I never did convert to Lutheranism, despite my many efforts. Like Martin Luther himself, the Lutherans were happy to welcome me into the Church—as long as I had been quite sure of my decision to convert. My parents, however, with their pouting and sulking, and their constant threats to disown me, was enough to convince me to stay with the Original Church. My father had given me the silent treatment and ceased to pay for his half of my tuition—and agreement we had settled while I was a senior in high school— though I was not extremely troubled by this; I already had a steady job in Toronto. It had been my mother's dying wish that I would stay with the Catholic faith. So I was coerced by the very woman who bore me; who had been dying of lymphoma and simply desired that her beloved son did what she asked. So, I obeyed my mother, even after she had died. I never did go back to New York; having nothing left to say to my devout father, and having already built a life of my own in Toronto. I promised my mother hat I would never become a Protestant. But she had never made restrictions against becoming a Canadian.

After I had graduated from University, with a major in English and two minors in History and Religion, I applied for my Canadian citizenship papers. My flare for politics and my love for history was all that I need to pass; and pass I did. I had become a reluctant Catholic-Canadian, while remaining true to Honest Abe and the Land of the Free. If my father hadn't disowned me by then, he definitely did so after receiving the letter informing him of this great news. My father, to his dying day, remained convinced that the Canadians had brainwashed his son, and so forbade any piece of Canadian literature, film or music from entering his home.

While I had planned on living in Canada, the War brought me back to New York. If I am perfectly honest with myself, I guess I was hoping that returning to New York would allow me to make amends with the way I had left things off with my parents. But I had been wrong. I felt like an alien in my own home. Whatever ties I once had to New York had been severed long ago.

As I looked around myself, during our long and nerve wracking journey through the East end of Free New York, I became increasingly aware of how much the city had changed. I guess the battle that I would eventually be fighting in allowed me to come to this sudden realization. The city looked like Beirut during the 1975 Lebanese War; torn streets from Dracon beam fire that had been so similar to the shells that left millions of Lebanese homeless until the War's close. The towers and office buildings that I once admired as a child lay in rubble; constant symbols of the implications that war has on society.

I could hear the sound of Dracon beam fire in the distance, followed by the sound of returning gun fire. The sound of the Dracon beam, very much like a striking bird of prey, had always left my ears ringing, my gut churning, my fists clenching, and my mind racing. There was no way in hell that the bullets of an AK-47 would be a match for the sure power of Yeerk technology; I would bet my life on it.

"Alright boys," Maria Louise said, grinning wildly. "Check your weapons. We are about fifty feet away from those miserable parasitic fucks"— the woman had a tendency to cuss when she was excited.

There weren't nearly as many controllers as Dax and Zar initially suggested; perhaps a dozen give or take a few. I didn't care if it had been two dozen or two—I was still scared shitless. These Yeerks were not only armed, but they had been armed for a single reason: to kill! And I was the sorry son-of-a-bitch that would be on the receiving end of one of those Dracon beams. There were approximately six Hork-Bajir, three Taxxons, and three human controllers present on the battlefield. I could see Fletcher and Dax fighting off two Hork Bajir, while two other Hork-Bajir—no doubt the Bates twins posing as doppelgangers to Dax and Zar—were fending off a Hork-Bajir, a Taxxon, and a human.

I also noticed four people that I had never seen before fighting alongside members of my own unit. I had heard that there were other sections of the Resistance occupying Free New York, but I had never seen another unit now. Unlike my group, these newcomers did not have any Hork-Bajir to back them up; just four fully capable individuals from different races. Even without the Hork-Bajir, these guys held their own. I was watching, completely impressed, as a black man, who I took as the leader of the four, successfully killed a Taxxon with a machine gun! He didn't cheer, nor did he cry for what he had done. He wasn't a hero. He was solider. He had a job, knew that such a job had to be done, and acted accordingly.

"Matherson!" Maria Louise barked into my ear. I didn't notice that she had been shaking me. "Get ready, boy! Do you want to die?"

I sure as hell didn't want that. I checked my AK-47 and the few grenades that I had strapped to my belt. Technically, I was ready. In reality, however, I was just another child, who believed that he had what it took to fight in a man's war.

_Hey, oh, let's go!_

Maria Louise, like some sort of hungry dog, ran at the enemy with her AK-47 held high in the air, and letting out an ear curdling battle cry for every living soul to hear. Zar followed our leader reluctantly, unarmed. I took up the rear, hoping that the remaining controllers would drop to the floor at the instant of my arrival. I did something that I had frequently done since this war began; I prayed.

I caught a glimpse of one member of the other Resistance, a petite Asian woman dressed in white, falling to the war torn concrete beneath her feet after being hit in the breast by a Dracon beam. A rather handsome looking man, no older than twenty, had seen this and began to morph into a large, gray creature; a rhinoceros. He charged, letting out a savage groan, and killed the controller that had murdered his partner.

Two more humans started to morph: the black soldier became a beautiful golden Lion, while Maria Louise had morphed into a Grizzly. I had never seen so much morphing taken place in a single area, and I soon found that Fletcher and I were the sole warriors that remained human.

Then, one of the six Hork-Bajir controllers started walking, menacingly towards the area where I had been standing. "Fuck!" I groaned, taking open fire on the advancing alien. The bullet met with the creature's blade. "Fuck!" I swore, taken a second shot at the creature; it pierced the beast's flesh, but made little damage. "Fuck! Fuck!" I roared. I must have fired every single bullet from the gun's magazine, but the fucker still came at me. My last resort would be to smack the damn alien with my own gun.

"Human…" the Hork-Bajir controller said in a gravelly voice. "Got you!" he laughed, grabbing the scruff of my neck as I turned to run away. "You would leave your own people to die at our hands?"

"Fuck you!" I spat.

"I never understood that term," he said, with what I took to be a grin. "The humans scream that one phrase in the Pools more so than any other in the entirety of your race's pathetic language…oh well." He raised his wrist, and inched his host's wrist blade towards my neck.

Tseeeeeeeew.

The Hork-Bajir controller no longer had a head! I fell from the grip of the decapitated alien's remains as the corpse fell over. Behind the dead Hork-Bajir had been the last person that I expected to have saved me; posed like some sort of action hero, left arm raised and grasping a Dracon beam, was Officer Zane Leeds.

"I am very glad that I left Maria Louise in charge," he said with a laugh. He threw his Dracon beam towards me. "Let's hope that you are more effective with this than the AK-47."

He turned away from me and morphed into the mightiest of all creatures, a polar bear.

((Matherson, where is your head at?)) A Grizzly bear had suddenly crouched beside me; Maria Louise. ((We need you out there, boy. Are you with us?)).

I nodded, without being the least bit honest. I ran to help Dax and Zar, and the Bates twins. They didn't need my help—hell, they had almost taken down the Hork-Bajir they had been fighting. But I didn't want Leeds or the Queen Reagent to notice that I was a coward. I also knew that if I had any hope for cover, it was behind four, full grown Hork-Bajir.

The battle had ended with the death of a female controller. I didn't know her name, but she looked like the most beautiful girl that I had ever seen in my life. She couldn't have been much older than eighteen, and now she would never live to see another year of life. I don't know who had killed her, and I honestly couldn't care less. Her body, beautiful even in death, disturbed me. She just seemed…so natural lying there; having died from the most unnatural of causes—War. How could this have happened? How could Aphrodite have died? I mean, weren't the gods supposed to be immortal?

What's worse is that, even after I had turned my back on that beautiful girl, I couldn't shake the image out of my head. She looked the way my mother had looked when she had died—she looked almost as if she had been asleep.

I spent the better part of an hour observing the battlefield. Once upon a time it had been New York City, the Big Apple. Now, the city that had once been my home was a mass gravesite for the rotting flesh of humans, Hork-Bajir, Taxxons, and animals. A rhinoceros lay dead to my left and, beside it, the remains of a Taxxon.

"Come on Matherson," Leeds had said, placing a hand on my left shoulder. "You can't help them where they are."

_**When the storm's at your front door**_

_**With a roar you can't ignore**_

_**Yea run, run away**_

_**But there's no place to hide mate**__. _

—_**Billy Talent, Turn Your Back**_


	5. Following A Leed

**Following a Leed**

I followed Leeds back to where my fellow Alternamorphs, and the newcomer, were all standing; every last one of them with a look of weariness on their faces. Every member of my division, thank the Lord, was still alive and accounted for; I was even glad that Leeds had still been alive. The black soldier, who must have led the group of four that fought alongside us, stood beside Leeds, looking rather sombre.

"Thanks for the back up," he said to Leeds, grasping his hand. He had such a soft voice for a man of his height and weight. I had expected his voice to be edgy and gravelly. "It was much appreciated." He looked away from Leeds and turned his head towards the battlefield, looking rather grave.

"How many of your men are dead, soldier?" Leeds asked, rather insensitively. The black man didn't pay too much mind to him, though; then again, none of us paid too much mind to Leeds.

"Everyone except me," he answered. "My division was issued six men and women when this war started. Two left in the middle of the night a few years ago, and my last three died today."

There was a very uncomfortable silence before Fletcher kindly asked this solitary black soldier what his name was: it was Elias.

We all heard a noise; a pitiful moaning sound that floated through the air somewhere in the battlefield. In an almost comical way, we all drew our weapons. Elias, I could tell, must have hoped that one of his men. I knew that the source of all the moaning was not an ally, but a controller.

Leeds followed the moaning and panting sounds to a place behind the dead rhinoceros, carrying his usual air of arrogance. He held his Dracon beam high.

"It's a controller!" he shouted, pointing his weapon at something we couldn't see from where we had been standing. "It doesn't look like he can walk, but come quick anyway!"

We ran—Maria Louise, somewhat excitedly— to our fearless leader, who gave a swift kick to the controller currently at his mercy. What I saw, lying pathetically in his own blood and stool—behind the gray mass that had once been a friend of Elias— was a human controlled; bleeding profusely from both of his legs. His breathing had been uneven, and his face was caked with so much blood that I couldn't distinguish his mouth from his eyes; his nose was broken. I didn't know whether I should pity this man, who had brought this destruction upon us, or if I should relish his pain.

"What is your name, Yeerk?" Leeds barked. "I want your host's name, and your given name."

"My host's name…" he began, "Is Philip Alexander Matthews…my given Pool name is Mak 1170…" He didn't end his sentences so much as trail off. I became more aware of how much pain Philip/Mak had been in.

"Dammit!" Maria Louise said, disappointed. "We didn't even capture a Sub-Visser."

"Stupid human…" the controller snarled. "Sub-Vissers are not stationed in these lowly cities…"

"You speak to me, Mak!" Leeds snapped. "I did not give you permission to speak to my men." He kicked Philip/Mak's left leg. He turned to Dax and Zar. "Grab him boys. I think it's time for a little interrogation. Elias, you might be able to get your revenge after all."

We brought the controller known as Philip, or Mak 1170, back to our bunkhouse in the western area of Free New York; and when I say "we", I mean Dax and Zar. Despite the fact that we were now among friends, we refrained from discussion. All of us had been far too tired from battle to even bother engaging in a conversation, and the only sounds that could be heard was the constant panting and moaning from our hostage. Once again, we were walking in a straight line, with Leeds up at the front, and Maria Louise holding up the read; the rest of us, as well as our new friend Elias, were scattered about in-between these two very important persons. The walk home seemed to last for hours, when, in actuality, it had only been half an hour. The lingering silence made it feel like an eternity. I found myself looking back at my comrades, each looking just as battle weary as I had been. Save for myself, being a coward and all, most of the group had killed today, perhaps for the first time in their lives. I observed the twins and Fletcher: the slow pace in which they walked and the look of contemplation did not give me the impression of war, but that of the ordinary citizen, who suddenly found themselves questioning their motives for joining the fight. Maria Louise, Leeds and Elias remained indifferent; they knew what had to be done and felt little to no remorse, and I admired each of them for it—even Leeds, as arrogant a man as he was. But I didn't see any of this in Dax or Zar. Though they fought in this war they weren't really soldiers—but pacifists— and they were far from being citizens on this planet. For the first time since I've known either of them, I saw them as aliens.

We got to the bunkhouse around noon, which gave me the impression that we haven't fought for very long. The bunkhouse itself wasn't anything special: standard issue military housing for the everyday soldier. There were three rooms, or housing quarters, in the bunkhouse: each room was large enough to accommodate two or three soldiers. Fletcher, Leeds and I slept in one room, while Maria Louise and the Bates twins slept in the room opposite to ours. Dax and Zar, given their massive size, were not able to share a room with the rest of us; so they slept in the room down the hall from the girls, or outback when Leeds needed to use the third room to plan "strategies"—he claims that he needs a solitary space in which to think when, in actuality, he had taken advantage of the Hork-Bajir and used their room to catch up on his sleep.

To meet the accommodations of our latest recruit, and given our current situation —by that, I am referring to Philip/Mak— Dax and Zar would be forced to sleep outside. So that meant that Leeds would interrogate the controller in the "strategy room". Also, to be polite to the now wandering soldier, either Fletcher or myself—but most definitely not Leeds—would have to join Dax and Zar outside and offer one of our bunks to Elias. Fletcher had been more than happy to give Elias his bunk, but I volunteered mine. I wasn't trying to be friendly towards Elias, but trying to make up for the way I acted on the battlefield; not that something as trivial as sleeping outside could possibly deny the fact that I sat on my ass while my more courageous friends fought off a dozen aliens. It did put my mind at ease, however.

Leeds was currently interrogating Philip/Mak 1170 in Dax and Zar's room. Really, the interrogation room involved a shouting match between Leeds and the controller, and a few gun shots from a pistol in the officer's possession—a typical scene that one would see in any cops television drama. Maria Louise had insisted that she join Leeds —probably so she could beat the controller a few times and satisfy her own twisted desires—but had been told to get some rest. Nevertheless, I wouldn't put it past Maria Louise to eavesdrop behind the door to the interrogation room, no doubt getting some sort of thrill out of our hostage's cries of pain. Maria Louise definitely had some sort of admiration of our fearless leader, though I'm not sure if she admired Leeds for his leadership qualities—doubtful enough— or because she recognized that Leeds got the same sort of bizarre sexual thrill out of battle that she did.

But both parties were often satisfying the other's needs…that much I had been certain of. I had stumbled upon Leeds and Maria Louise during one of their escapades once, but that had been enough to assure me of my assumptions; and let me just say that watching these two warriors in the thralls of sexual intercourse had been both disturbing and, dare I say, satisfying to watch.

Whatever egocentric relationship the two warriors shared, they preferred that it remained hidden, and could often be found in a vacant building; just ten minutes away from our bunkhouse. I'll have to admit that I didn't _stumble_ upon Maria Louise and Leeds, but _followed_ them to their meeting place. If I hadn't been taking a leak out back—feeling no desire to use the outhouse that our division had been issued— I would never have caught Leeds walking out of the bunkhouse in the first place. I didn't follow him immediately, and I wouldn't follow my leader until three nights after that, when he snuck out once more. My first thought had been that Leeds was a controller; he did, after all, seem to sneak out of the bunkhouse ever three days to do God knows what. So, as he snuck out of the bunkhouse for a second time, I followed him—the date isn't important.

I was hiding in the outhouse on the third night after Leeds's second excursion, watching the man who led my division of the Resistance sneak out of the bunkhouse. He looked around for a minute, to assure that nobody had been watching—a much more intelligent man would have most definitely checked the outhouse for onlookers— before continuing onward. I had to wait a few minutes before I left the outhouse and trailed Leeds.

Leeds stopped, after what felt like twenty minutes—though I was probably less than that— at an old office building that, oddly enough, once employed my father. Leeds no longer hesitated to see if anyone had followed, but that was probably because he thought he would have noticed he was being followed by then—though I wouldn't give Zane Leeds that much credit—and, instead, entered the building. A minute later, I did the same.

Electricity hadn't existed in our end of New York for about five years—the Yeerks in Occupied New York controlled such matters like electricity, telephone lines, etc.— so that meant that the building's elevator wouldn't be working; which meant that Leeds would have to take the stairs instead. I had to wait a little while longer before following Leeds by then, lest the sound of my footsteps echo on my way up the stairs and give away my position. At the time, I didn't consider how large the building had been—a staggering fifteen floors— and, therefore, I didn't consider that I might lose Leeds. I had almost given up looking for my fearless leader after the first five floors, and I would have given up if the thought of Leeds entering a hidden Yeerk pool hadn't forced me to press on.\

I only managed to find Leeds when I forced myself to think like Leeds. The man was a solipsist, meaning that he believed himself to be God's gift to the world; only Zane Leeds existed and, thus, was to be the planet's top priority. I figured that Leeds would most likely be found on the top floor of the building; that is, after all, where the executives would usually meet to discuss business and that is where all the power could be found.

There must have been a dozen or more rooms on that floor alone; each room was empty, no longer places for men and women in expensive suits to discuss matters like stocks, sales and clients. Every room was empty, except for that one room, where Leeds would be leaning over a pool of sludge and parasites, and where the Yeerk in his head would crawl through his ear canal and release its control over its host.

I didn't want to open every door in the hallway, lest I expose myself to the enemy and possibly allow myself to be captured. Instead, I stood outside the doors to every room on the highest floor of the building, with my ear pressed against the door's wood to listen to any sounds. The door at the far end of the hallway, bearing the highest number—two thousand, one hundred and twelve — is where I heard the breathing.

I had abandoned any belief that Leeds had been a controller; the noises that I heard from behind the door to room 2112 had been all too familiar, and all too human to even be considered to be actions of Yeerk controllers. As if my hand had been acting of its own accord, I found that the door marked 2112 had slowly begun to open. What I had been exposed to had left me with mixed feelings. If it had been any woman, other than Maria Louise, I wouldn't have reacted the way I had. I'm sure that I would have walked away from room 2112 of the building that once employed my father, and I would have retreated back to my bunk, to sleep off the image I had just witnessed. But it had been Maria Louise, so I stayed.

It had been completely animalistic. It wasn't the sort of thing that one would see in a romance film or drama. What I had witnessed lacked any sort of love and tenderness; the barred teeth, the rough pace by which Leeds and the Queen Reagent had been thrusting, and the moaning sounds that came from both people—a sound I had only heard once, by accident, as a child. Louise was on top of the officer, who looked up at his mistress with a mix of pleasure and pain. I could see a burning fire in Maria Louise's eyes as she was grinding against Leeds's naked form; her hands grabbing the back of his legs, and her breasts bouncing every which way. I couldn't see Leeds very well from behind the door, but I saw every inch of Maria Louise's muscular form, which made her more like a man than a woman. I found it interesting that she wouldn't let Leeds touch her—though the Officer made constant attempts to grab at her breasts, and had once tried to reverse their positions. And it became blatantly obvious, that it wasn't going to be over until Maria Louise had been completely satisfied. She didn't hit him, or whip him, or verbally abuse, but the fact that she was in control was evident.

I had been reminded of Lilith, who is said to have been Adam's wife before God had given him Eve. Lilith, like Maria Louise, really enjoyed being on top, and she wanted Adam to know that, when it came to sex, she was in charge. Lilith had been everything that Eve wasn't: dominant, daring, ambitious, and vibrant; all those traits that Lucifer desired in a mate. I had been watching something unholy—the devil and his mistress, both evicted from the Garden of Eden, engaging in the greatest of human pleasures. Both Leeds and Maria Louise—Lucifer and Lilith—had reached climax. I had ejaculated as I sat watching. I never followed Leeds again.

While Maria Louise eavesdropped on Leeds and his interrogation, and as the others slept in their respective bunks, I lay outside the bunkhouse with Dax and Zar, looking up at the night's sky. Since the city lights had been shut off, there were a lot more stars in the sky. I had never seen so many stars before.

"Can you guys see your home pla net from here?" I asked Hork-Bajir, who sat crouched on either side of me.

"Home planet in other galaxy." Zar explained. "Many great distances from Earth."

"Andalite could say where home is," Dax added. "We not sure how far."

"What is the Hork-Bajir home world like?" I asked.

"It is much like Earth," Zar said, sadly. "Yeerks all over. No more Hork-Bajir free."

"But home have many trees!" Dax said, proudly. "Tall, tall trees that reach high into mother sky, and deep into father deep. And bark is good."

"But not free." Zar sighed.

"Not free." Dax repeated.

"When did you guys leave home?" I asked.

"Many, many years ago," Zar said. "We very young when we leave home. We had Yeerks in our heads when we come to earth, long time ago, together."

"How did you guys break free?" I asked them, looking up at the sky, as if I could almost see the spaceship flying across the nights sky, bringing Dax and Zar to their prison on Earth.

"Animorphs." Dax and Zar said in unison. "Powerful humans help us."

"A human named Tobias saved many Hork-Bajir." Dax said. "He free us all!"

"Where are they now—the Animorphs, I mean."

"High in space." Dax said. "Very high."

"But some still here on Earth." Zar added. "Like pretty tall girl, and the funny man—they both still here."

There was a brief moment where nobody had spoken, so we just admired the sky. I could have sworn that I saw a shooting star. But, then again, given the time I live in now, it could have easily been a spaceship. What a world I live in now, where things like space travel, aliens, war and morphing have become a part of my everyday life. Perhaps what I believed to be a shooting star had actually been the Animorphs; aboard a massive Andalite vessel, on the run from a nasty Yeerk Visser, or the Council. But they were still fighting. After a decade, these people—who had only been children, really— were still fighting a war that everyone else had given up on. They saved the Hork-Bajir of Earth, many years ago. So, maybe there was still an inkling of hope for this blue rock in the middle of the vast Milky Way. Maybe the Hork-Bajir still had a fighting chance for freedom.

I fell asleep listening to Dax and Zar telling stories from their home planet, before the Yeerks had invaded and enslaved their entire, beautiful race. I heard stories of beasts crawling about a place beneath the massive trees, in an area known as father deep; of trees that stretched to unknown lengths, and had been homes to the Hork-Bajir; and of the beautiful sky, and all the creatures it inhabited. That night I had learned about paradise. The world Dax and Zar told me about seemed far too good to be true. It was a world that neither Hork-Bajir had known, for they had been conceived merely for the purpose of infestation; they were children of war.

Dax woke me up the following morning, with news that the controller known as Philip Matthews had been killed by Elias. From what I had been told, Leeds asked Elias to assist him in the interrogation of Philip/Mak 1170. Maria Louise was especially peeved that Leeds had not asked her, but Leeds didn't care; he had gotten all the information he ever wanted. Anyways, Maria Louise should consider herself lucky; she didn't have to bury the body.

"So what do we have so far, boss?" Fletcher asked, once all the Alternamorphs had been present outside of the bunkhouse.

"The best news that we have gotten in a long while." Leeds grinned. "We have here _(referring to a small, folded sheet of paper in his hand)_ the plans to one of the largest of Yeerk Pool Complexes, and this one is just outside the Big Apple."

"And a high ranking Visser is supposed to be there three days from now." Elias said. "He is supposed to be accompanied by a member of the Council, so—"

"We take down the Councillor and his pet, and blow the Pool to oblivion!" Maria Louise interjected. "Now _that_ should lower the morale of the Empire!"

"More or less," Elias smiled. "Not to say that this mission will be easy."

"No, it won't be easy," Leeds agreed. "But we got ourselves a crack team of professionals, Elias. I have complete faith in them."

"Well, regardless," Elias said. "We have to plan this efficiently and quickly. We have less than three days before the Visser and the Councillor get to the Pool, and the journey is by foot; meaning that we will have to cross into and out of occupied cities outside New York. I suggest that we fly over these areas and land into those areas outside the control of the Empire."

"But how can we distinguish those free cities from the occupied cities?" Fletcher asked.

"Mak 1170 gave us all the info we need," Leeds said, interrupting Elias before he could speak. "Don't any of you worry, Elias and I will think of something."

"Well, in any case," Elias continued. "We will need to acquire some morphs: we need animals appropriate for flight, infiltration, and battle before we move on to the pool."

That meant that all of us would have to morph."

"Which means that we will all have to morph." Elias said.

I was afraid he would say that…


	6. What it Feels to Be

What it feels to be…

We were currently walking through the city of Free New York, now a barren wasteland filled with cracked streets and potholes, vacant buildings—and the bits of rubble where buildings had once stood—and rats a plenty. That is one of the many things that I dislike about New York during the war, so many damn rats. As we walked through the war-torn city, I took a look at a rat feasting on what appeared to be a dead pigeon, and I shuddered; not because it was an incredibly disgusting display—though I really was disgusting—but because I really hate rats…

Leeds had put both Maria Louise and Elias in charge; probably because even Leeds knew how insane Maria Louise could be when put in a position of power. Elias thought that it would be beneficial for the cause if we all acquired new morphs for the mission at hand. Unfortunately for Elias, and I made sure to point this out many times, there were a few issues concerning the mission: one being that there hasn't been a Zoo in Free New York for about eight years.

When the Animorphs had given morphing capabilities to ordinary citizens, the Yeerks found that they now had a large number of opposing forces working against the Empire, and the only solution for this minor obstacle would be to eliminate the means of acquiring morphs; by closing down every Zoo, and burning down any National Park in every major city on the planet. This alone should have put Earth at a disadvantage had the Council of Thirteen not intervened. The Council eventually received word that the planet's animal life had begun to see an exponential decay, so they placed restrictions on the powers of their forces on Earth. While the Yeerks could not kill any form of animal life on the planet, they were granted permission to perform scientific experiments on the strongest of land prowlers and sea dwellers that Earth had to offer. They had made many attempts, throughout the course of the War for Earth, to make animals suitable for infestation, but these experiments had been utter disasters; resulting in the animal's immediate death.

But Zoo life had not been threatened for long; not if the Animorphs had something to say about it. Backed up by those few Andalites on Earth, and whatever other allies they had at the time, the Animorphs had managed to liberate as many animals as they could, and devised a system of animal preserves in those free cities throughout the globe. According to Elias, that is where we were headed. We were going to acquire some animal DNA at a preserve somewhere in Free New York.

Now, I have been living in Free New York for about eight years, but I have never seen the slightest trace of these so called animal preserves. Up until now, I had simply discounted the existence of these preserves as myth; such places simply could not exist, not in a place like New York. I mean, how could one miss an entire animal preserved?

"It's hidden." Elias said, as if such a thing had been blatantly obvious.

"Yes, I figured as much," I said. "What I want to know is how the preserves are hidden. I mean, the Yeerks have some pretty advanced technology; couldn't they just trace the preserves…or something?" I finished lamely.

"Yes, the Yeerks have some impressive bits of technology at their disposal," Elias agreed. "But the technology of the Andalites is impressive as well; as is that of the Helmacrons, the Anati, and, perhaps most impressive of all, the Chee.

"The Chee are in charge of every animal preserve, on every continent of this planet," Elias continued. "The Chee are pacifists, like the Hork-Bajir; a race composed entirely of Androids, built by a race that died out more than a millennia ago. They are, perhaps, the only race that mastered holographic technology. And that," Elias said, turning to wink at me, "is precisely how the preserves are hidden."

We came to a building that bore a suspicious resemblance to the building that Maria Louise and Leeds had often used to fornicate; except this building was not nearly as massive. Elias just stood there, in front of the entrance, as if he expected that building to move for him.

"Aren't we going to go in?" Fletcher asked. Elias chuckled politely and said,

"If this was the entrance to the preserve, then the Yeerks would have destroyed it a long time ago." Elias turned once more to smile at all of us, tolerating our ignorance. "I wonder; how do you think the Yeerks would react if they knew that the Chee had been using holograms to hide the entrance to the preserves?"

I could have sworn that Elias had been asking the question to me, specifically, so I answered: "I would imagine that they wouldn't be too happy about it."

"I would disagree," Elias said. "Imagine how much power the Yeerks would have at their disposal—how the War would turn in their favour—if they somehow gained possession of Chee technology—"

"Did anybody see that?" Fletcher interrupted, pointing at one of the windows of the building. "The building…it just…flickered."

Every one of us, even Elias—the apparent specialist in extraterrestrial technology—had raised a head to further examine the building that stood in front of us. It had, indeed, been flickering a bit, similar to the way a light bulb will flicker when there is a lack of power, or the way that an image on a television screen will jump when signals cross; only this wasn't a light bulb or a television set, which one would expect to flicker from time to time, it was a building. Given what Elias had told us about the Chee and Holographic Technology, I had deduced that the building was simply a hologram. Nevertheless, it still baffled my mind. The building seemed solid in every way possible, no different from any other building that remained in the city of Free New York. I moved forward, recalling something I had seen in an old sci-fi film as a child, and touched the building. Rather than have the hologram shimmer, or flicker as it had done previously, my hand passed through what appeared to be a brick wall. Had it been a real building, my hand would have met the rough surface of brown-red brick. And, if it had been a real building, I wouldn't have been able to walk through that brick wall the way I did.

My uncle Noah owned a Zoo somewhere in the middle of California, and I spent most of my summer vacation at his villa by the beach. Having been named Noah by my grandparents, my uncle had decided to name his Zoo _Noah's Ark_, and the _Noah's Ark Zoo_ had seen more than enough business in its day. The last time I had been there I had been seventeen years old, but I will never forget the summers that I spent at _Noah's Ark_, assisting my uncle and his staff in any way I could, and secretly feeding the animals. And not only had it been massive in size—maybe half the size of any theme park—but it also contained nearly every animal, of every genus possible: one could find anything from Lions to King Scorpions, and Cockatiels to Golden Eagles could be found in Noah's Ark. It seemed to be the sort of place that had been beyond the capabilities of ordinary man. The exhibits, with all of its lush, green grass, caverns and waterfalls, seemed like a slice of the African jungle, right in the middle of the United States.

I expected something like Noah's Ark to be found behind that illusion of an office building; expecting to find leopards and Cheetahs racing each other along wide fields of green, while a small group of Hawks or Falcons circled the sky, looking for a field mouse, or a rat, to swoop down upon. When Elias told me that we would be heading to an animal preserve earlier that morning, I pictured that we would be going to some sort of Zoo. Instead, I found what looked like a periscope, not unlike the tool one would find on a submarine, sticking out of the concrete; an ugly, rusted rod of meal with a single, piercing blue eye where a lens would typically be found.

"Elias, I think there's some sort of mistake!" I called from inside the hologram. "I don't see—"

I didn't expect the ground to swallow me whole; engulfing me in utter darkness. I may be wrong, but I believe that I fell through the ground—which must have been about ten inches thick with concrete—and, by means that could only be described as alien, landed in some sort of tube. I was sliding downward, at an alarming speed, with little to no hope of slowing down or stopping any time soon. I would have screamed if I had been terrified, but the experience was far too exhilarating to ever be frightened. I had that indescribable feeling in the upper part of my stomach ; the sort that once feels on a roller coaster descending down a steep track, or in car that is driving down a hill. The feeling was so pleasurable, just as a roller coaster is pleasurable, that I actually found the experience to be fun; and I had been rather disappointed when the fun eventually came to an end.

Instead of crashing to the rocky ground beneath—which would have resulted in a spine crushing crash—as physics would dictate, I stopped in mid-air after sliding through the mouth of the tunnel; hovering in a dimly lit room that I could only just make out. Somehow, I had been lowered to the rocky floor of what appeared to be a cave. There were stalagmites and stalactites jutting out at odd angles in the cave, and a quaint waterfall that seemed to shimmer. I never could tell the difference between stalagmites and stalactites, and couldn't remember which hung from the ceilings of caves, and which from the ground. The cave seemed to shine like diamonds, due to the minimal light provided by the light bulbs hanging from the ceiling, oddly positioned in-between the jagged rocks—stalagmites or stalactites— having no business of being where they were.

Without a doubt, the metal door—which had been circular in shape and some odd ten or fifteen feet in circumference—had been the one thing, aside from the light bulbs in the ceiling, that seemed to be out of lae in this rather ancient looking cave. Places like these are excavated all of the time, but I never expected New York City to be one of those places. I find it amusing that I could feel so impressed by seeing something so geologically simple as a cave when I lived in a world where aliens infested the human race, where teenagers with morphing capabilities were the planet's last hope at salvation, and where holograms covered the entrance to a secret, underground animal preserve. But I had been impressed by what I had seen. The cave was simply beautiful beyond description, or comprehension, and the possibility that such places of untapped beauty could still exist, in a world of war and destruction, gave be a tiny shred of hope.

I examined the round, metal door that had been oddly positioned in the middle of a cave wall. It threw off the entire look of this geological wonder with its awkward technological juxtaposition. There did not appear to be any sort of means of opening the door, and I suddenly found myself wondering if it had really been a door, and not simply another hologram.

From above, I heard many voices—a mix of male and female, and alien screams of surprise that came from the mouths of my fellow Alternamorphs. I had only now acknowledged the mouth of the tunnel that I had fallen through mere moments before; it too had been awkwardly positioned in the high ceiling of the cave. The first Alternamorph to exit the tunnel mouth was a beautiful, short haired woman in black that I immediately recognized as Maria Louise. She hung in the air, defying every law proposed by physics, and gently met the moist ground beneath. Behind Maria Louise was Fletcher, who also hovered above the cave floor. And, within mere seconds, every member of my division—save for Leeds, who was back at the bunkhouse—was currently floating in mid-air.

"It would have been best if you waited for the rest of us," Elias said, kindly avoiding any criticism that Maria Louise and Leeds would have given me for disobeying an order. "But no matter, let's proceed."

Elias walked towards the circular white door in the cave wall, and said something so incredibly ridiculous that I didn't even have time to fathom how ridiculous it had been. He pressed a dark hand onto the face of the door, and said "We're going to the Zoo, Zoo, Zoo. How about you, you, you?" I'm still not sure if Elias had been joking, or if someone behind the door had suspected our arrival and opened it for us. Whatever the case, the door did open. It opened the way the entrance to every spaceship, of every sci-fi series I had ever seen, would have opened; with a loud, whoosh.

My mouth hung open, as if I had been a small child in a candy shop. What I had seen just then, after leaving what I previously believed to be the epitome of beauty, was a beauty beyond mere comprehension. For the first time in ten years I had seen the countryside, stretched out before my very eye; untouched by the cruelty of the war for Earth. But it wasn't only the country side I had seen; the African savannah, the rain forests of tropical islands, and the vast bodies of ocean water that covered more than 75% of the planet, had somehow been replicated thousands of feet beneath the earth. I stooped down and plucked out a piece of grass—it was real! The sky above me was a cloudless blue, with a golden sun shining at high noon. But as I looked around this slice of paradise, my amazement never ceased. Lions and tigers mingled amongst their own kind, a gazelle was grazing as a pack of wildebeest ran from a panther. I watched as leopards and cheetahs engaged in a race across the safari, while African Elephants drank from a pool. Crocodiles, sharks, and whales somehow managed to exist in this world under New York. Haws and Vultures circled the sky; while some sort of dog howled in a forest somewhere off in the distance. The last thing that I expected to see was a human.

A tall boy with sandy brown hair, who looked to be in his twenties, was petting a deer. I soon discovered that there were four more humans scattered around the preserve. The boy petting the deer finally acknowledged our presence, and smiled. He walked towards us, as Elias shouted a greeting.

"It has been far too long, Elias." This man said, grasping the black soldier's hand.

"I would like to introduce you to a member of the Chee, Erek King." Elias introduced Erek to the rest of the group, while we continued to look around the preserve in disbelief.

"How is any of this possible?" Fletcher asked, completely in awe. I could have sworn that I had seen tears streak down the cheeks of the optimistic warrior from Canada. "Animal and plant life living deep beneath the surface…it seems impossible, but here it stands!"

"Unless it's just another hologram," Maria Louise said, sceptically. "That's it, right—it's all just a hologram?"

"Much of the preserve is holographic, correct," Erek admitted. " The grass is fake, and the sky is obviously a hologram, but really _(he winked at Maria Louise) _who could tell the difference?"

"How is any of this possible?" Fletcher asked, once more. "How are you feeding all of these creatures—where is the oxygen coming from?"

"A race known as the Pemalites created the Chee," Erek began. "The Pemalites had the most advanced pieces of technology in the universe; and some of their most impressive technological advances would be the hologram.

"The preserves use this technology to provide for the animals that it supports; any oxygen, food, water, grass, etc. would be provided by the preserve. So the animals are actually eating, swimming, breathing, what the preserve gives them. We have also had some help from the Andalites to produce artificial grass."

"All very interesting, Erek," Elias said, patiently. "But we're on a tight schedule at the moment; Yeerk business, you know."

"I see that you have not yet given up on the War?" Erek said darkly. "You still cannot see that our way is the only way to end this war with minimal casualties."

"You're hoping for a treaty," Elias argued. "The Yeerks would never go for that, especially now that there's a schism in the Empire."

"Violence only breeds further violence." Erek said quietly. "I have lived long enough to see that."

"But you're only a child." I said. "How could you possibly say that you've seen enough?"

Erek smiled. "I see that Elias has failed to inform you of the nature of the Chee."

Suddenly, the boy who looked to be in his mid-twenties, disappeared, and was replaced by something I could only describe as a large, mechanized dog.

"The Chee are Androids," Erek said, reverting back to his human form. "We are indestructible, and are capable of living for thousands upon thousands of years."

"You can't die?" I said, suddenly very interested. "You get to live forever?"

"Immortality comes at a price, my friend." Erek said, grimly. "I have lived on Earth for centuries, and have been exposed to more than enough death and war to last me a thousand life times."

"All of this could end if you would just tell us the location of the Pemalite crystal." Elias said. "The Empire will fall, and Earth will return to peace, but only if you tell us—"

"You say that you're on a tight schedule?" Erek said, obviously desiring a change in subject. "I am to assume that you and your entourage are here to acquire some animals?"

I could tell that Elias wanted to press the issue of this Pemalite crystal a bit further, but politely gave in. "This lot haven't had much experience with morphing, so we require a great deal of cooperation."

"Well, follow me," Erek said. "We've got just about any animal that you would be able to find in an ordinary zoo…and others that you can only ever find here."

Erek took us on a tour of the preserve, and introduced us to every animal that they had in their possession. We only stopped when one of us had found an animal to acquire. And because Maria Louise desired the largest and strongest of creatures as battle morphs, we seemed to stop frequently. Dax and Zar, probably the few Hork-Bajir capable of morphing, acquired a few animals that would be required for the mission at hand, favouring their own bodies as battle morphs. The Bates twins, for the first time since I've known them, seemed to be genuinely happy, acquiring those animals that seemed especially beautiful to them. Fletcher, ever the optimist, had not been too particular about what he acquired.

I on the other hand, had not touched a single animal the entire time Erek had taken us around the preserve. Elias had been conversing with Maria Louise the entire time, so he probably didn't notice that I hadn't acquired an animal. At least, he wouldn't have, if Dax hadn't loudly said, practically shouting for all to hear, "David no morph?"

Elias turned to me, with an eyebrow raised. "What do you mean, David no morph?"

"I…haven't exactly acquired an animal just yet." I stammered.

"Well, you better get on that." Elias ordered, sternly. He turned to continue his conversation with Maria Louise, while I slumped behind the group, pretending to observe a creature to acquire. Really, I had no intention of morphing into an animal. I guess I had been hoping that Leeds would order me to stay at the bunkhouse when the mission finally arrived, or that I would get sick, somehow.

"You have to pick an animal that you're comfortable with."

I honestly don't think I wouldn't have recognized the voice if Sandria Bates hadn't been standing right there beside me. I had never heard either one of the Bates twins speak since I have known them. So when that sultry voice spoke up, I had been a bit thrown off. Finally, I said "Nothing appeals to me," which had been a blatant lie.

"Something has to appeal to you," Sandria said. "I mean, look at where you are right now; surrounded by beautiful life."

"Listen…I just never got the hang of this morphing thing." I whispered, hoping that Elias had been too caught up in his conversation with Maria Louise to overhear. "I could never control it…and trust me, I've tried!"

"This mission to the Pool Complex requires you to morph." Sandria said, rather Maria louise-like. She grabbed me by the hand and dragged me over to a tree, resting by a quaint ravine. She pointed at something roosting on a low branch—a Golden Eagle.

"Have you ever seen a Golden Eagle fly?" she asked me. "It's probably the most elegant bird of prey out there. It's powerful, with a wingspan much larger than any hawk or falcon. It's probably the most beautiful bird by comparison.

"But it can be vicious when provoked," she added. "It is also solitary, despite all of its strength and agility. I see the Golden Eagle as a creature that is all alone in a world without much of a future. They say that birds of prey have amazing eyesight—they can see the truth in a world of illusion.

"That's how I see you, David. You and the Eagle are one in the same; brooding and solitary. But it is also beautiful, potentially vicious and free."

This had been the most I have ever heard Sandria say. She said more in that single speech than she had in a lifetime, and I could tell that there was some truth in her insight. Though, personally I couldn't find myself in this beautiful bird of prey, I could appreciate the Golden Eagle for what it was; a hunter. I wanted to be that hunter, to escape the label of cowardice.

"Acquire it, David." She said to me, placing her hand on my shoulder, and sending a shiver down my spine.

I stepped forward, and stood beneath the Golden Eagle and the branch on which it was perched. It didn't seem to acknowledge my presence, and so didn't jump when I placed my hand on one of its beautiful golden wings. I thought about the Eagle; its size, shape and colour, and about all of the things Sandria had said; solitude, freedom and independence—everything that I believed myself to be the opposite of. Soon enough, I had successfully acquired the Golden Eagle. Sandria, who had chosen today of all days as the time to speak to me, smiled. "Come on," she said, "Let's go find you some more morphs."

"Arbron liberated a few Taxxons from the Yeerks," Erek said, when we came to a part of the preserve that supported a large crater. Inside the pit had been a small colony of Taxxons. "We've given them refuge here, but that has threatened the other inhabitants of the preserve. A deer made an unwise decision and crossed into the Taxxon colony…needless to say, it didn't survive."

"They're horrible…disgusting creatures." Elias said, with the utmost revulsion. "You couldn't have put them anywhere else?"

"The most revolting beasts are those with the most power." Maria Louise said. "I mean, look at the Hork-Bajir; not too bright, but perfect for battle…I want to acquire it."

"Would that be very wise?" Erek asked. "I mean, the Taxxons are said to have an unquenchable hunger…you might not be able to control the morph…"

"I am sure that I'll be able to manage, Erek." She said, defiantly.

"Is there anyone else who would like to morph a Taxxon?" Erek asked. He spoke in a tone that suggested that such a thing was not wise, so nobody else volunteered. "I will place a hologram around you, so the Taxxons won't notice you."

Once Erek and Maria Louise climbed into the pit, they disappeared. The Taxxons seemed to sense that something else had entered their home, but had been unable to locate the whereabouts of these intruders. One Taxxon, perhaps the largest of the colony, sniffed the air around Maria Louise and Erek. I knew, judging by the way the Taxxon seemed to doze off, that Maria Louise chose this Taxxon as her morph. Within no time, Maria Louise and Erek materialized before our very eyes. Maria Louise wore a devilish grin upon her face, taking pride in the fact that she had been the only one in a group of warriors brave enough to acquire the vicious Taxxon.

I had acquired more than enough animals that would have been required of the mission at hand. By the time we had said farewell to our ally in metal, I had the DNA of a white tiger, an orang-utan, a king cobra, a Great Horned Owl, a black mare, a stag, a yellow-jacket hornet, an elephant, a panther, a scorpion, and a Lion; all now swimming through my bloodstream, alongside those animals I had acquired in the past: a wolf, a dove, my ex-girlfriend, and…a rat.


	7. Rats

Rats…

"The first animal that I ever morphed was a wolf." I said to Sandria Bates, later that night behind the bunkhouse. "I acquired it about seven years ago, when I first came to New York…the wolf look completely out of place, standing there in the middle of the remains of New York City, but it looked like he fit in."

"People say that the wolf is Earth's natural loner." Sandria said, sitting right beside me. "Do you think that's why you chose the wolf as your first morph?"

I thought about that for a moment, as the two of us sat beneath the night's sky, behind the bunkhouse. The Alternamorphs got back from the preserve sometime around four. Leeds and Elias locked themselves up in Dax and Zar's room to go over strategy for our upcoming mission. Maria Louise had been especially upset by her exclusion of this boy's meeting of wits, and retreated to her room in the bunkhouse to sulk. Fletcher had spent the entire afternoon teaching Dax and Zar how to play Go-Fish, which had been amusing enough to watch, as neither one of the Hork-Bajir seemed to be able to grasp the rules of the game; Zar kept asking where the fish was. Sandria seemed to have taken a liking to me since we got back from Erek's preserve, while Olivia, her twin, seems to have stayed true to keeping a vow of silence. Though, I'm not sure if she disliked me, or if she was still disturbed by her tragic loss as a result of this awful war. Sandria, on the other hand, had talked non-stop since we returned to the bunkhouse, and seemed to be trying to pick at my brain; to attempt to unravel the mystery that was David Matherson. She was sort of like a psychiatrist, asking me questions and forcing me to come to conclusions about my life that I had never considered before. I marvelled at her seemingly endless capacity for wisdom. Sandria was a lot more intelligent than most people I have met; perhaps even more intelligent than myself—and I've always believed myself to be a rather intelligent person. A girl like Sandria was a rarity, in my opinion. Sandria was the first woman that I had ever felt a connection to, and we only knew each other for a day, really.

"I don't think that I've ever thought of it that way," I said, after a minute of thought. "I thought that it looked elegant, standing there in the middle of what was left of Free New York…I don't think I thought of myself as a loner…I don't know…"

"We all choose morphs that we feel a connection to," Sandria said. "For people like Leeds and Maria Louise, animals that best exemplify qualities of power and strength are the most appealing. You heard Maria Louise earlier this afternoon—the Taxxon was hideous, but it also had a lot of potential because of its size. It's an ego thing. People like Leeds and Maria Louise feel that they have to be bigger and stronger than the next person to make up for their own securities."

"What about Fletcher, Dax and Zar?" I asked. "They didn't seem too overly excited about acquiring their morphs."

"Fletcher and the Hork-Bajir are probably the few beings left in the world that can truly claim to be comfortable in their own skins. Fletcher is the easy going sort, and tries to please everybody. Dax and Zar are pacifists. Leeds and Maria Louise look down on these sort of people, when it should be the other way around."

"Not to say that they aren't bad leaders." I said. "They may be insane, but they've kept us all alive for eight years."

"Yes, but do they possess the qualities that are needed of a leader?" she asked. "It takes a lot more to lead a group of people than barking orders. A leader should be ruthless, yes; but he or she should also have compassion. I mean, really, has a ruthless leader ever been successful in history? No. Without respect, a leader is just a playground bully."

"Well, thank God we have Elias." I laughed. "I respect Elias a lot more than I respect Leeds."

"Elias is a much more effective leader, yes." Sandria agreed. "But I've always seen you as leader material."

"Me, of all people?" I laughed. "I'm nobody's hero."

"You don't give yourself enough credit, David." Sandria said, shaking her head. "What do you consider to be the qualities of a good leader?"

"Somebody who wouldn't run away from a fight, for one thing," I said darkly. "Somebody that you could trust. Somebody who can always think one step further than the enemy. Somebody who doesn't screw up."

"You have all of those qualities, David!" Sandria argued. "You're reliable, intelligent and trustworthy—"

"And I'm a bloody coward as well." I cried. "When we fought those controllers a few days ago, I had been scared shitless. I hid behind Dax and Zar the entire time. What sort of leader is that?"

"You aren't the only person who gets scared, David." Sandria looked at me in the eyes—something few women have ever done. "You aren't a coward for being afraid of death."

"I'm not afraid of dying, though." I retorted. "Dying is the only ticket out of this war."

"You seemed very interested by the immortality of the Chee." She argued.

"Well…maybe I was surprised that something could live so long."

"You should really start seeing yourself as a leader, and not as somebody to be led. Hell, there may even come a time when you will find that you have no other choice but to play the leader. Because, even though you see Zane and Maria Louise as these herculean warriors, they are just as mortal and you or me, or the Yeerks. This isn't some sort of romantic fairy tale where soldiers can't die, and magic is real. This is realism at work."

"What was your first morph?" I asked, desperately trying to change the subject.

"A vixen." Sandria answered, rather quickly. "Olivia and I found a vixen by a ravine in Colorado a few years ago."

"Did you see a bit of yourself in the vixen?"

"No…it really reminded me of my mother." Sandria got very quiet after she said that. "I miss her a lot…when my dad died, my mother had to raise my sister and I all on her own—and she did a damn good job of it…Olivia and I aren't the easiest girls to raise. But my mother managed it, right up to the bitter end…she looked beautiful before she died; like the vixen.

I wasn't sure if I should ask Sandria any personal questions, seeing as how we didn't know each other. If somebody had asked me about my past, I would have told them whatever it was they wanted to know. Sandria may have been different though.

"Who was the Visser who…did it?" I tried to put y question delicately, avoiding the word killed.

"His name was Visser One at the time," Sandria said. "For all I know, he could have been promoted to the Council by now."

"Do you want to kill him?" I asked. "If it had been me, I would want the Visser to suffer."

"Sure, I could kill him; but would that really matter to the Empire?" Sandria said. "I hate Visser One with a passion, but so do countless others. I think that I'll let someone else kill him; somebody who is actually capable of killing for revenge."

"You don't want revenge?"

"What greater revenge is there than bringing down the entire Yeerk Empire?"

Sandria never ceased to amaze me. Every word that came from her mouth seemed to be so wise. Or maybe I had just been too close minded to notice the obvious. For a moment, we sat in silence and looked up at the sky.

"Have you ever morphed an animal other than the wolf?" she asked.

"The second creature that I ever morphed was my ex-girlfriend, Dana." I admitted. "She and I lived together before the War began. I thought the two of us had been in love…I guess I was wrong."

"What happened?"

"She just gave up, I guess…" I sighed. "We tried to keep things going when war broke outm just like any other person on the planet. But everyone has a breaking point; Dana's breaking point was when the Animorphs gave citizens the power to morph, and when the Reistance had been set up…I don't know what it was, exactly…she just gave up. She became a voluntary controller for the Yeerks, and I never saw her again.

"I guess I morphed Dana out of some pathetic desire to hold on to the last part of my life that had been destroyed by the war. Needless to say, it wasn't the same. I had to admit to myself that Dana was gone…my family was gone…humanity was dead."

I wasn't being entirely honest with Sandria when I told her about morphing into Dana. I morphed Dana twice, and never used her D.N.A ever again. The first time was when the two of us were still living together, and I morphed Dana while she was out of the apartment. I stood in front of the mirror, and watched as I grew breasts and a vagina. I didn't tell Sandria any of this, because I had been very ashamed; ashamed that I enjoyed every second of my brief time inside Dana's body…I never told another living soul about how I reached my first female orgasm, and I don't think I will ever tell anybody the truth; that is one of the many secrets that will die with me.

The second time that I morphed Dana really had been out of a desire to keep a part of my old life alive. I morphed Dana, and I stared into the mirror—fully clothed. Whatever I had with Dana was gone, and becoming an exact copy of her was not going to rekindle a burnt-out flame. So, I cried. I cried while I was in Dana's body.

"Have you ever had a relationship?" I asked Sandria.

"I've never really been interested in the sort of thing." Was all Sandria had said in response.

More time passed before Sandria brought up another philosophical discussion. Until Sandria started speaking again, I found myself wondering about the fate of my ex-girlfriend. Was she a lowly controller, serving the Yeerk Empire as a reluctant foot-soldier, or was she a high ranking Visser? Maybe, by some cruel plan set out by the hands of fate, Dana had been the controller who wiped out Sandria's entire family. Or maybe it had been Dana who captured Fletcher's children ad infested them. And, suddenly, I got that weird feeling in the pit of my stomach.

"Why don't you like morphing?" Sandria asked. "I mean, you're obviously uncomfortable with it, I noticed that much."

"I only acquired a few morphs when I was assigned to New York," I began. "By then, I had already acquired the wolf, a stray dog, Dana, and a dove. Leeds had a job for me to do, and I was all the more ready to accept. It had been relatively simple: sneak into the Yeerk Pool Complex, and gather any sort of useful information.

"So, I acquired the smallest creature that was at my disposal; one that wouldn't draw too much attention if seen crawling around the Pool." I paused, not for thought, but to ease my way through the painful memory. "There were a lot of rats in cities like New York, after the war broke out. You could step on a rat on your way out of the house; so capturing a rodent was simple enough.

"I had never morphed anything as small as a rat before…the dove would have been close, but I never morphed it. I only acquired the dove because I always believed that a dove was pure…God's bird, as my father would say." I laughed at the mention of my father. "Anyways, I didn't think that the rat would be too difficult to control, so I didn't morph into it until I was outside the Pool entrance. It was an old building in Occupied New York—probably an old theater, but I couldn't remember.

"Being inside the body of a rat is like…like being an easily frightened child; everything is significantly bigger than you are, and stronger than you are…and you feel so helpless and insignificant because you are so small. The only thing you can do, other than be afraid and pray that somebody bigger than you doesn't notice how scared you are, would be to run. ..Rats run a lot, you know. When you're scared shitless, running is typically the best solution…the only solution….that, and hiding.

"So, I morphed into the rat, which hadn't taken very long. It seemed alright, at first, since I wasn't in any apparent danger. But…then I entered the Pool, through a crack in the wall of the entrance… and suddenly I couldn't see my paw from my face. And all the time, the rat's instincts in me started to go off like a alarm. Run, and run fast!

"I lost control, and I had become an actual rat. David Matherson was long gone. I kept squeezing through that hole, in complete and utter darkness, for God knows how long! I couldn't control the morph. All I could do was run. I couldn't demorph…not in that tiny crack in the wall…even if I tried I wouldn't have been able to. All I did was run like the rat I had become.

I received short flashed of my time as a rat; running through that labyrinth of a hole, no longer giving…giving a rat's ass about Leeds or his fucking mission. There hadn't been the slightest sliver of light, so I kept running, blindly; squealing and squeaking, as my tiny, man-like paws scraped across dry wall and dirt. I was squeezing through places, and occasionally got stuck. And a faint voice in my head, the voice belonging to the real David Matherson, said something about a time limit.

"I suddenly found myself asking about the time—how long had I been in morph? And the words 'trapped' and 'nothilit' became a constant, running through my mind. Rats only lived two years…I would be spending the next two miserable years as a scavenger. Say farewell to humanity, and open your arms to a life of devouring old pieces of trash and rotting flesh.

"Trapped! Trapped! Trapped! That word began to run through my mind as a white rat ran through a never ending hole of darkness. I couldn't scream…so I squealed, hoping that someone would hear me. I even tried thought speech, calling out the names of my friends—Fletcher, Dax and Zar, Maria Louise, and Leeds—but I don't know if any thought speech travelled that far.

"Then, as if…as if God had heard my squeaks and squeals for help, a thin stream of light appeared. Ad I ran towards that stream of life, trying to put aside thoughts of being a nothlit. But I felt as though I would never reach that light, no matter how fast I ran. The light was teasing me, taunting me; giving me a false sense of hope, like a cruel bully. But still, I ran; even if hope had been utterly futile…

"I made it to the end, after a while, and I could just see the outside of the building through a hole in the wall. I started to paw and gnaw at the drywall, as if my life depended on it. And I made it out of that building…

"I wasn't trapped in morph. I demorphed the second I reached the outside of the building, and took a breath of fresh air. I buried my head and cried; a naked failure, but human, nevertheless. I was a human, and that was infinitely worth more than any success to be had in any mission. I could have flown to the bunkhouse, but I no longer trusted animal instincts. So, I celebrated my humanity, and I walked all the way back to the Bunkhouse in Free New York.

"I asked Leeds how long I had been gone; apparently it had only been half an hour, but I didn't care. It felt like much longer, and I remained convinced that I had been mere minutes away from overstaying the two hour limit. After that, I locked myself in my room, away from the others, and sat in my bunk, alone."

"One day," Sandria said softly, "You will have to morph that rat again. It's inevitable, now that you've made it a part of you. You can't run away from your problems. You need catharsis."

She noticed the look of confusion on my face and smiled. "Closure is what you need, David. You have to make amends with the past. You did that with Dana when you morphed her, and you have to do the same with the rat."

"How is it that I'm able to tell you things that I've never told another human being?"

"I think," Sandria said, edging closer to me, "it's because we've both lost so much in this war, that we've got nothing to lose. And…"

Our lips met. I realize that, given the large difference in age between us, that kissing Sandria wasn't a very good idea, but I didn't care; at least, not at the time. What we had at that moment went beyond the physical. Sandria was right; we had both been attracted to each other because we both suffered a lot in this war. Or maybe I thought this way to make an otherwise immoral situation seem ethical.

I took Sandria to that building that Leeds and Maria Louise used to fornicate, and we made our ascent to room two thousand-one hundred-twelve. By the time we got to room 2112, we were both half-naked. It wasn't the most romantic of places, but it was familiar. I entered her as gently as possible, and massaged her breasts, as she kissed my neck. There was a moment where all we did was look into each other's eyes. I wasn't in love with Sandria, not by a long shot. But we respected each other, and we definitely needed it; a moment of passion between two people, stuck in a war that never seemed to end. We came, gathered our scattered clothes, and walked back, silently to the bunkhouse.

"You aren't a coward," Sandria said to me, once we got back to the bunkhouse. "You may not be a hero…not yet, but you're far from being a coward. You're a soldier."

She entered her room at the bunkhouse, once again leaving me with a piece of philosophical insight. I would have to figure out what she meant in the morning; right now, I needed some rest. Tomorrow, I would have to wake up early, and prepare to enter the real hell.


	8. Lilith

**Lilith**

I was in some sort of dark cell on a Yeerk Blade Ship that was currently flying through space. I have never been in a spaceship before, but I couldn't get excited; not after recent events. I was not on the Blade Ship as a visitor, but as a prisoner; a prisoner of a low ranking Visser who so happened to strike fear into my very core. There wasn't a single window, or the slightest crack in my cell that would permit the slightest sliver of light to enter the room. I was in complete and utter darkness, and I suddenly found myself reminded of the brief time I spent as a rat, crawling through a hole in the wall of the entrance to the Yeerk Pool. I was blind, and bound by chains attached to the wall of my cell, and in the most amount of pain I had ever experienced in my entire life. Sitting on that cold, metal floor, I could feel blood dripping from the wounds on my face and upper body. I was naked as well; my clothes were burnt off under Dracon Beam fire after that sham of a battle.

The plan for entering the Yeerk Pool Complex based outside the city of Free New York City had been simple enough, and Elias seemed very confident of victory, though he hadn't been specific about which side would be victorious: us, or the Yeerks. We were supposed to get into the Pool Complex, take down the Visser and the visiting Councillor, and get out. Elias, of course, made all of that seem a lot simpler than it actually was. When Elias spoke of the mission at hand, we actually believed that we would come out of it alive. Unfortunately, none of us expected the Visser and her goons to have over taken us. She had foreseen our arrival, and imprisoned every last one of us on her Blade Ship. I don't know what happened to my team mates, and I'm not sure, exactly, of why we were placed on the Blade Ship and not immediately infested down in the Pools.

I closed my eyes with hopes of easing some of my pain, but the slightest amount of movement on my part on enhanced pain. What made my predicament worse was that I couldn't even morph; according to Visser Thirty-One, the cell had been equipped with Anti-Morphing technology that would trace the subject who was morphing at the time and kill them instantly. Whether this was true, or if the Visser was simply bluffing to keep me at my weakest, I couldn't be sure. The latter was more probable, but I wasn't in any position to take a risk. So, instead, I did what any sensible person in my situation would do; I sat in the farthest corner of the cell, leaned against the wall to support my wounded shell of a body, and wallowed in self-pity.

Then, the door to my cell was thrown open, and the silhouette of a woman could be seen, standing in the middle of the threshold, illuminated by a blinding white light. She spoke and I felt my insides churn. I was hoping, desperately hoping, that she would just kill me right then and there; sparing me the horrifying alternative—infestation.

She walked into my cell, with the door wide open, and moved closer and closer towards by timid form. The sound of her heels seemed to echo off of the walls of the cell. She grabbed me by the hair and forced my head upwards, so that my eyes would meet hers; she smiled and a chill passed through my spine. I could have, and probably would have, fainted with fright.

**October Thirteenth, 2009, 8:00 A.M**

Elias had asked—nay, ordered—that every one of us be awake by 8:00 a.m. for a debriefing for our biggest mission yet: the invasion of the Yeerk Pool Complex and the capture of two high ranking controllers. Leeds and Elias claim to have devised a rather brilliant plan; brilliant enough to get Maria Louise excited, despite her sulking earlier about Leeds's new friendship with Elias.

Earlier that morning, Maria Louise had barged in on Fletcher and me as we were changing into our leotards. She came into the room wearing her usual battle gear—the tight fitting black outfit that seemed to enhance the size of her bust—while I was still in my boxers. Once she left, Fletcher took a look at me, grinned, and through my leotard at me.

We met at the back of the bunkhouse, where Dax and Zar slept when Leeds needed to use their room. We were all accounted for, and standing in a vertical line before a leather bound Elias and Leeds, who wore the "issued" black leotard. We all waited for Leeds to speak; for once in the eight years that we knew him, we were giving Leeds the respect that we would show for an actual commanding officer. He was beaming with what I interpreted as pride, and his excitement for the mission was evident in the way he stood; posed as if he had been a solider in a Hollywood film, with both of his legs set apart and his hands behind his back.

"This…is the biggest mission that people like us could ever hope for," Leeds began, in a surprisingly commanding voice. "Therefore, it is very important that we succeed. Hopefully, we will all get out of this alive…but that is just hope. In a war, we have to be realistic, not idealistic. Some of us, me included, may not make the trip back. But your lives, should any of you die today, will be honoured, and your service will be remembered.

"The military would dismiss the Resistance as a group of disposable accessories to this war; mere suicide dummies that come within large numbers. Well fuck the military! I do not see suicide dummies, but soldiers. I see, right before my very eyes, a group of people who selflessly threw away their lives, their families and everything that they once held dear to serve their planet.

"Some of you may regret this, but you shouldn't. We may not be in the thick of the action, up there in spaceships or on alien planets, but dammit our presence will be known. This is our planet, and today—if God is smiling upon us—we will start the spark that will lead to the end of this war.

"I was in the military, years ago, and was kicked out for stupidity…that is regrettable, but that is what fate intended for me. For, if not for my stupidity—my blatant disregard for the rules—I would not be standing before all of you today; the greatest division of the Resistance. I for one will not live to regret. I am not a disposable pawn in this game of Yeerks and Man, but a soldier of fate. I am in control; as are each and every one of you. Each of you—man, woman, Hork-Bajir, Taxxon, Chee, what have you—are in control of your own lives.

"Now…remember this one, last thing before I turn you guys over to Elias…whatever the Yeerks will do to you today, is nothing compared to what's waiting for you on the other side."

That was perhaps the most competent thing Zane Leeds has ever spewed out of his mouth. And, despite how much I disliked Leeds, I felt honoured to be serving underneath him in this particular mission. For the first time since this war started, I felt like a real soldier.

"Very impressive speech, Zane." Elias said, nodding to his co-part. "Now, let's hope that boosts team morale.

"This Pool Complex is approximately twelve miles from New York; so it should take the better part of a day to reach if we morph birds of prey. This means that we'll have to land into towns and villages to demorph every two hours until we reach the safe house that Erek has found for us.

"Getting into the Pool Complex is obviously not going to be the easiest task; it will be guarded by controllers of all kinds. It will also have the deadliest pieces of Yeerk technology installed throughout its perimeter and area; I'm talking about Dracon Beams and Anti-Morphing technology…but such obstacles are almost a guarantee. Really, we have only one option: fight our way into the Pool…but that sort of eliminates that element of surprise that we're shooting for. We want to assure that everyone is surprised today."

"Which is why Erek will be assisting us on today's mission." Leeds added.

"Yes, despite his reluctance, Erek King has agreed to assist us. Naturally, he will sneak us into the Complex under a hologram. Erek will meet us at the rendez vous point. But what we really need to focus on is what to do once we penetrate the Pool Complex. Our mission, of course, is the capture of the Visser and the Councillor…if we can't capture either one, then we'll have to kill them—but only under those circumstances.

"Unfortunately, we don't know the identity of the Visser, nor do we know which member of the Council will be visiting the Complex. There will be hundreds of thousands of controllers swarming the Pools over the next few days; the Complex stretches for miles, and could have hundreds of Yeerk pools. If we can find the Kandrona, then it would be within our best interest to take it down; doing so will spell trouble for the Empire.

"We will only attack once the identity of the Visser and the Councillor is revealed. Zane and I will then enter in our battle morphs to cause a disturbance. By the time we get to the Complex, the Yeerks will be in the middle of the feeding process, so that should work to our advantage."

"Which one of us is going to kill the Visser and the Councillor?" Sandria asked.

"Anybody who is closest to them at the time can kill them Again, let's try to see if we can capture the Visser and the Councillor; we will kill them only as a last resort. I think we'd want to use the both of them as leverage for the Empire.

"I really wish we had more time to think all of this through, but we've got to work with what we've got; this is really our only shot. If we all want this to work, we've got to act right now…unless there's anyone who wants to back down."

Elias hesitated to see if anyone wanted to hang back and sit this one out, but nobody raised a hand, or said a single word. I thought about saying something, but I was getting an adrenaline rush; feeling a confidence that I had never known before. I think it might have had something to do with the smile Sandria threw me. I would have smiled back, but Olivia caught me staring at her sister and threw me a dirty look…did she know about what I had done to her twin the night before?

"Alright then…" Elias sighed. "Let's get going."

I hadn't morphed another animal since the whole rat fiasco, so I expected the whole process to bring back some painful memories…but it didn't. It felt smooth this time, morphing into the Golden Eagle. I'm not sure of exactly what allowed me to execute the morph with little difficulty, but I think it had something to do with the words of wisdom from Guru Sandria the night before. I just thought about all of those qualities associated with the Golden Eagle—the very qualities that Sandria believed I possessed. I simply crouched down low to the ground, spread out my arms, and began to morph.

It started with my arms changing into the massive, golden feathered wings of the Eagle, and finished with my feet transforming into the mighty talons of a raptor. I had become a hunter; a confident bird of prey; the largest of all the raptors.

I blinked, suddenly becoming more aware of my surroundings. Birds of prey—hawks and falcons and eagles—were appearing all around me. The Golden Eagle, however, had not been like the rat; it had confidence and knew no fear. I was the largest of the entire group, so I had no reason to be afraid; no reason to want to run and hide. Instead, my instincts told me to dominate; to lead the others and dethrone Leeds and Elias. This morph had been significantly easier to control, compared to my rat morph, but I still maintained that very Leeds-like air of arrogance about me, and mimicked Maria Louise's need to dominate those around her. At that moment, I understood what it had been like to be Leeds.

We took flight; an experience that I will remember until my dying day. War had made life on Earth something bleak and unbearable; a lonely existence that lacked all hope and optimism. But being up there in the sky, riding the thermals, brought at new hope to a world that was in desperate need of hope. I had the irrepressible urge to blow of the mission and become one with the Golden Eagle. Obviously I could never do such a thing, but it was rather inviting.

Most of the day had been dreadfully uneventful; mostly composed of our landing in cities and towns to demorph, then pausing to check that the coast was clear, and then remorphing and continuing our flight. Sometimes, we would land in a city that was not divided into Occupied and Unoccupied, but entirely occupied by the Yeerks. In this case, we would have to scout out a secluded place, a deserted park or forest, to demorph. Once we had nearly been caught by a patrolling Hork-Bajir, but he walked right by our hiding spot. That was my day in a nutshell; mostly hiding behind rocks from patrollers. I have to admit that I was slightly disappointed by the lack of action we had seen; a part of me actually wanted to get into a fight with a Hork-Bajir.

We took up camp in an office building a mile away from the entrance to the Pool Complex; a pitiful looking building that looked rather old—with its chipping walls and cracked windows—and was only eight floors high. I recalled what Leeds had said about meeting Erek along the way, and so concluded that the building, with its pitiful architecture, was actually a hologram. But when Erek actually opened the doors to the building, waving his arms to signal us to get inside, I had to think otherwise.

We were in an occupied section of a city a mile away from the Pool Complex. We all asked Leeds why we weren't setting up camp in the unoccupied section of the city instead, but we didn't get an actual answer; we were just told to follow orders. So we were all rather nervous about sleeping in a city currently swarming with controllers. Erek assured us that he had checked the entire building for controllers, passages and surveillance cameras and had not found a single device or living soul, but that didn't really settle my nerves. The building could have had trained military soldiers guarding every nook and cranny, but that still wouldn't change the fact that we were in the enemy' nest; in the eye of the storm. I don't know if anybody got sleep that night; because I sure as hell didn't.

We were all sleeping in individual rooms on the fifth floor of the office building. Fletcher was sleeping on a desk in the office next to mine, while Dax and Zar shared a room across from the both of us. Sandria initially chose to sleep in the room next to mine, but her sister pulled her by the arm and dragged her to the office at the end of the hallway; I don't think Olivia Bates likes me very much. But I never did find out where Leeds and Elias chose to sleep that night; and I didn't have the stomach, or the heart to ask.

I slept in an old, but surprisingly comfortable leather couch in an office where the original owner's possessions were still intact. There was a desk, directly parallel to the leather couch, with a computer and picture frames pile on top, and about a dozen framed certificates hanging from the olive coloured wall. I didn't expect to sleep at all that night, so I wasn't surprised when my attempts at sleep had failed. The hour had mostly been composed of my tossing and turning on the leather couch, with my eyes shut tight. Eventually, I gave up on sleep all together and decided to look around the office.

The frames on the wall were doctorates, awards and certificates awarded to a Mr. Andrew J. Carson. His awards were mostly best sales, and I discovered that he was once a V.P for a business that went under. There must have been more than a dozen frames on that wall, and I got the impression that Andrew Carson, a Bachelor of Commerce, Salesman of the Year (four consecutive years in a row) and former V.P of Globetech, was something of a success. I imagine his father must have been very proud.

On the desk, beside the office computer and printer were many pictures of a man and woman (Carson and his wife) and four children. They were smiling in every picture—dressed for church, dressed in formalwear for family occasions, dressed casually for those lazy summer days, and dressed in shorts and bathing suits for the beach—but their smiles seemed genuine; not like the family that one would see posing for a commercial endorsing Hallmark. Obviously, Carson had a fantastic wife; a steady job, a gorgeous wife, and four beautiful daughters. To think that the Yeerks probably took all of that away from him made me feel rather sad. Eventually, looking at the pictures on the desk, most frames covered in dust, made me sick; so I left Carson's office and took a stroll around camp.

Initially, I planned on visiting Fletcher next door, but I thought about how much sleep the guy has probably missed, so I walked passed his door. My second choice would have been Sandria, but I knew that Olivia would be opposed to the idea of my being in their room. So, rather than interrupt my team mates, I decided to take the flight of stairs up to the eighth floor. I wasn't in any sort o hurry, so I kept at a slow and steady pace.

Along the way, at the landing of the seventh floor, I heard something that sounded like a baseball bat hitting the side of a wall. That meant that the building Erek claimed to have been vacant had been breached by a controller. Reason told me to raise an alarm; to call Leeds and Elias and have them deal with the intruder. Stupidity, and thirst for some action, told me to handle the situation alone; it only sounded, after all, like there had only been one intruder.

I followed the sounds and, as I ventured further down the hallway of the sixth floor, screams to a room marked five-hundred-two, where it seemed a woman was screaming and cursing and beating the office walls with a baseball bat. I knew those grunts and the voice currently cursing the name of Zane Leeds beneath the moon, so I didn't hesitate to open the door. Inside, Maria Louise had been pacing around the room, hitting the walls with her own fists; apparently unaware of my presence.

"…suddenly he's all buddy-buddy with Elias," the Nympho-Warrior fumed. "The two of them, up there, discussing things that are of 'no concern of mine' —I'm only on the fucking team—Matherson, what the hell do you want?"

"I heard some noises from downstairs…I thought it would be a controller…is there something wrong?"

"It's just Leeds, as usual," she said, sitting cross-legged on the office desk. "He and Elias are going over plans for the mission, and they preferred that I wasn't around. Apparently, my knowledge of the plans for the mission could jeopardize the entire operation—ha! Leeds has been avoiding me ever since Elias joined the group; now they're inseparable."

"And this upsets you?" I asked, trying to sound just as wise as Sandria had when she analyzed me the previous night.

"I'm not jealous, if that's what you're implying." She huffed. Obviously, Maria Louise wasn't the sort of person intrigued by analysis. She was two-dimensional, really; half nymphomaniac and half war-crazed solider bent on causing the most amount of pain to her enemies. "They're probably going at it, right now."

"Na, you don't think…"

"It's not impossible." Maria Louise shrugged.

"Leeds doesn't strike me as…the type."

"Hell, if it means that he finally gets to be on top, why not?" she said.

For a long while, neither of us said a word. I nearly turned to leave the room until Maria Louise said something that struck my interest.

"So do you want to start, or should I?"

"Start what, exactly?" I asked, having a good idea of what she meant.

"Why are you playing dumb, Matherson?" she asked with a laugh. She got up from the desk and walked towards me. "I can tell by the looks you've thrown me all these years that you want to sleep with me. Neither one of us is going to get much sleep tonight, so let's go for it."

She was so direct about the prospect of sex that it seemed unreal. She rolled her eyes and unzipped her leotard, revealing a pair of large breasts contained by a black lace bra.

"I really don't understand what the big deal is," she said, walking over to me, wearing nothing by a pair of black lingerie. "Obviously, you really want to sleep with me, and I'm not totally put off by the idea—so why not?"

Honestly, I wanted to throw my clothes off that second, but I wasn't sure if she was being serious or not. Maybe I had fallen asleep down in Carson's office, and this was one of many dreams involving the seductress, Maria Louise. Once again, she rolled her eyes and tore off my shirt.

"I guess I'll have to do all the work then?" she muttered, as she unzipped my jeans. She kissed me with surprising passion. Then, she had me pinned down on the hard wood floor, between a leather couch and an office desk. She then broke the kiss and unhooked the bra. As she dangled the piece of lingerie above my head, teasing me, she said, "I guess you're wildest fantasies have finally come true, David."

She grabbed my hands and, with the strength of a man, placed them on her chest. As I fondled the breasts of the Nympho-Warrior, Maria Louise began to grind against my body, with her head arched backwards and her eyes staring up at the ceiling. She grabbed the back of my knees, just as she had done to Leeds, and began to thrust back and forth.

The whole time she gyrated against me, I had been moaning in a mix of pleasure and pain; allowing Maria Louise to assume the same dominant role that she had over Zane Leeds mere months before. That's why she was so willing to have sex with me; Leeds had rejected her when she asked and, since she absolutely needed to dominate somebody, I had been chosen as some sort of consolation prize. But, unfortunately for her, I did not intend to be like Leeds, who tried and failed to overthrow Lilith; I wouldn't become another Adam.

While Maria Louise stared up at the ceiling, perhaps to avoid looking at the man she was currently using, I grabbed Maria Louise by the waist and, with the strength of then men, assumed the role she had played with most of the men she had slept with.

Maria Louise had been thrown off by what had just happened, and now looked up at me with a look of surprise and, quite possibly, anger. But I didn't care about how angry she was, I had succeeded where Leeds had failed; I put Maria Louise in her place. I had her pinned down on the wooden floor, one hand fondling her right breast, while the other hand held her left arm in place. I began to thrust, quite violently, as Maria Louise lay beneath me, mouth hanging open and eyes rolling around the back of her head. The experience must have been so new to her, as she shifted from Lilith to Eve; changing from Lucifer's plaything into the obedient wife that Adam had always wanted. Then, she started to move her head from side to side, biting her bottom lip to stop herself from moaning, but she failed; her slow breaths soon turned into the moans of a sixteen year old girl. After she reached a climax, Maria Louise, between breaths, told me to get out of the room.

I left the Queen Reagent, after gathering my clothes, gasping for breath, with a rather smug look on my face.

**Initially, I was going to include the invasion of the Yeerk Pool Complex in this chapter…but a man can only take so much strain to the back and eyes, hunched over and typing madly on a laptop. **

**Unsurprisingly, I couldn't get into this chapter—including the invasion of the Complex scene—and I didn't have as much fun writing Chapter Eight nearly as much as I did writing Chapter Nine (which will henceforth be chapter Ten, now that the invasion of the Pool Complex will be an individual chapter).**

**For those who think that some of the things mentioned in this chapter—the description of Carson's office and David's adventure in Maria Louise—are irrelevant, you're wrong; most of the things I write are significant to the story and David's over all character.**

**For example; why did David choose a lion, rat and Golden Eagle as his morphs? Seems kind of familiar to somebody else we know, eh?**

**Anyways, enjoy and peace easy. **

**T.M.P**


	9. Heart of a Lion, Will of a Fly

**Heart of a Lion, Will of a Fly. **

The next morning, we flew the full mile to the entrance of the Pool Complex; which had been an abandoned theater that bore a strange resemblance to the theater I had nearly trapped myself as a rat. This time, I would have my team backing me up, and this time I would not be in the body of a pathetic rodent. Once again, I felt that strange feeling of confidence that I felt when I was flying in the sky as a Golden Eagle, and that confidence only enhanced after the night I spent with Maria Louise, who had been very quiet that entire morning. She wasn't throwing any dirty looks at Leeds as he gave the team another morale boosting speech; though, this speech had not nearly been as long as the one he gave the previous day. Maria Louise looked as though she had been deep in thought that entire morning before we ventured towards the theater; she seemed rather distracted. And, suddenly, I felt rather smug.

Erek left the Office Building, where we had set up camp, earlier that morning, before any of us had awoken. His job was to set up a hologram outside the theater. Erek had made sure that the hologram was subtle enough to avoid catching attention from the Controllers, but easy enough for us to find; I had never seen a delivery truck flicker before.

We all landed on top of the truck, apparently concealed behind the hologram, where we demorphed in front of a rather nervous looking Erek.

"Aren't there supposed to be controllers patrolling the streets by now?" Fletcher asked Elias. "This all seems a bit too easy, it's unsettling. I mean, things are way too quiet right now."

"It's the third day of the cycle." Elias said, wiping his forehead dry of sweat. I noticed, though it had been more obvious at that moment that Elias hadn't been looking very well that morning. His face was dripping with sweat, and his attention, at times, would seem to be elsewhere; like he had something more important on his mind. "The Yeerks will be down in the complex, feeding; we'd better hurry."

Erek changed the hologram to that of an military truck, very similar to the sort that patrollers would use to move around the streets of an occupied city, driven by a few controllers. Oddly enough, there hadn't been any controllers—human, Hork-Bajir, or Taxxon—waiting outside the theater.

"Alright, then," Leeds said, enthusiastically. "Listen up team, here's the plan: Dax and Zar will enter the theater with both Elias and me; the two of them will claim to have caught some renegades attempting to break into the complex—which isn't too far from the truth.

"Everyone else—David, Fletcher, the Bates twins and Maria Louise— will morph into flies and hide on our shoulders. Now, I will give you the signal to fly over to Erek once he's finished feeding; probably a whisper or the jerk of my shoulder."

"And why would Erek being feeding?" I asked, looking over at the android.

"Technically, I am a human controller," Erek said. "But seeing as how I am an android, the Yeerk in my head does not have any control over my brain. I go down to the Pools every three days to feed the Yeerk and gather information from the other Voluntary Controllers…at least, that's what I used to do back in the day…"

"If we delay a second longer then the entire mission will be jeopardized!" Elias said, annoyed. "We have to move now; everybody get into fly morphs. Dax, grab me by the arms and do not be afraid to be rough."

I was somewhat nervous about morphing a fly. The fly was a lot smaller than a rat, so I assumed that it would be more difficult to control the mind of a common house fly. But, given Elias's sudden outbursts of annoyance, I decided it would not be a good idea to further any delay; lest we jeopardize the mission. I closed my eyes and pictured a house fly; no larger than half of an inch, black hairs, and beady red eyes. Flies are the bane of existence; awful creatures in every sense of the word, the lowest of the low. I nearly freaked out when I opened my eyes and caught a glimpse of my arms: the spindled, black haired legs of a housefly. My vision dimmed and was replaced with millions of microscopic screens, and I started to see the world in scarlet; an endless canvas of blood-red, seen through television screens. My entire body began to itch as hair began to grow…everywhere. And then, most horrific of all, my body shrank significantly, and I was no larger than a speck of dust. I wish I could describe, in greater detail, how absurd and horrific the change from a complex multi-organism, into a simple creature no larger than an inch. I mean, what really makes up a fly? If you crush one, an odd, opaque juice flows from its pathetic corpse. The simplicity of the fly as a physical specimen says a lot about its mental capacity.

I didn't feel much fear, not like the rat. I was conscious of the fact that there were things around me that were far bigger than I was, but I didn't mind; my attention seemed to shift between the smell coming from Maria Louise—the smell of sweat and pheromones—and the smell of dog shit about fifty feet in the western direction. Being a fly was like being a seven year old; I was dirty, nervous, and I wanted to touch everything. And, the longer I spent as a house fly, the more I wanted to touch whatever had been around me at the time. I was even disgusted by my sudden obsession over the dog shit; its magnificent odour wafting through my nose…or snout… or whatever appendage I now had that allowed me the sense of smell. Then, I became aware that there were other flies swarming around me, and one thought entered my tiny fly head; _no, my shit!_

"When we get to the Pool, and after we give the signal, you guys will fly to Erek." Leeds said. His voice, which could have been as loud as a whisper, felt like a freaking earthquake as I latched on to the back of his neck. "After Erek is taken to the area where the Voluntary Controllers will be found, you guys will wait for him to give the signal to demorph. Remember, we attack only when we discover the identity of the Visser—and kill only as a last resort!"

There was movement, suddenly. I was becoming very nervous all of a sudden, and the fly's brain kept shouting_ fly! Fly! Shit! Fly!_ It took every ounce of my brain power to gain control over the fly's impulsive instincts.

((How the hell do you drive this thing?)) Maria Louise said. ((I keep flying around Elias's neck.))

"Fight for control!" Elias barked. "Giving into the fly's instinct will jeopardize the mission! Do not screw up!"

((Then why don't you morph a fly, and I will let Dax drag me in as a host?))

Elias didn't respond to Maria Louise. I think she eventually managed to gain control over the fly, because we didn't hear a word from her until after we got into the theater.

"Humans, they try to get in." Zar's voice boomed through…my ears. "We take them down to Pools for Visser."

"Take the elevator then?

"That was pretty easy." Leeds said a moment later. "You guys stay put on our shoulders until I give the signal."

We were moving again, but this time we were in a place where thousands of voices boomed around me; the fly's brain was freaking out once more. Even in the body of a fly I could recognize the cries and pleading of women and children, and the violent cursing from the men. Most of them, I found, were begging the Yeerks to let their children go free and they would become voluntary hosts. But nothing was worse than the cries from the children. These hosts didn't swear or taunt the Yeerks, as some hosts, who had a shred of hope for freedom left, tended to resort to; the kids were just…crying, wailing. I had been really grateful, at that moment, to have the vision of a fly.

((I can't stand it…it is so horrible!)) Olivia cried. ((I can't take it—there are children down here!))

((Yes, and mine are down here as well.)) Fletcher said, quietly. Olivia said nothing more after that fine point.

"Get ready—Erek has already gone to meet the other Voluntaries." Leeds said. "It's directly across from where I'm standing now—just fly straight across!"

We all flew into the air and made the attempt to locate Erek's room; but the fly's vision is not only poor, it made everything ten times more confusing. There must have been hundreds upon hundreds of cages, and anyone of those could be confused for a room holding voluntary controllers. And, what made our job all the more difficult was the screaming; it raised the fly's alarm and made it difficult to pilot the body. I buzzed around the heads of dozens of controllers, currently dragging hosts to the piers of the Pools for infestation, as I made my way to the room with the Voluntaries. I caught a glimpse of some Hork-Bajir watching old sitcom reruns.

((Guys, I see the room! Follow me!)) I said, excitedly.

((Which one are you?)) Sandria asked.

((I'm the one flying in zigzags.)) I replied.

((Aren't we all flying in zigzags?)) Maria Louise said.

((I see it too!)) Fletcher said. ((Everyone try to fly together, and pray we aren't noticed by anybody.))

After much zigzagging around the Pool Complex, the five of us managed to locate and land in the room for the Voluntaries. One of us spotted Erek, sitting on a chair away from the other Voluntaries, and looking really nervous.

((Erek, we're here; ready to receive the signal.)) I said, as I landed on his upper back. ((Just don't lean back, or I'm done for.))

"Hang on," Erek said. "I'm going to leave the room—slowly, so nobody notices my absence—and I'm going to set up a hologram in one of the exits."

It felt like we waited a life time when Erek finally told us that it had been safe to morph; "Just make it quick, I don't know how much time we have."

I had my human body back within minutes, but I was none too happy about that; I could see and hear everything so vividly. There were no less than a dozen controllers to a single cell, and there were hundreds of cells set up around the Complex. The Complex itself seemed to go on for an eternity. Rocks were sticking out all over the place at odd angles, and there were ten Pools set up around the area we were currently hiding in. I watched, horrified and speechless, as a woman of twenty years of age was dragged by the hair and thrown onto the pier. Her apprehender, a ruthless looking woman, who looked like she could have been the young woman's mother, forced her ear above the Yeerk Pool. I also caught a man and woman screaming behind a cage close to our hiding place; their arms stretched out and crying the names of Emily and Franklin. The Yeerks had the audacity to separate entire families, just to spite the humans. The controllers guarding the cages were openly mocking the humans crying behind the cages, gloating about how the Yeerks are mere months away from total domination over Earth and the Human race. They laughed at everything the Homo sapiens stood for; our multiculturalism, our nationalism, our military, our pathetic democracy, and our primitive architecture; and one Yeerk had the balls to ask us where our God was now. I wanted to kill every last one of them, not taking into account that some of the controllers speaking these insults may not be voluntary hosts. But that was beside the point; the Yeerks had invaded my planet, infested my friends and family, and mocked everything I held dear to me. Something had to be done. I would have to make an example of these people…these aliens…these parasites…I had to kill; that would be the only way to deal with murders, to teach them a lesson. And only one morph would do; the mightiest of mighty, the king of the jungle, Simba and Mufasa!

"Where do you think the Visser is?" Fletcher asked Erek. His voice had been strained as he spoke. The Canadians optimism was no good here; not in this horrible place. I could see anguish in his face and knew that he was thinking about his children, who were probably crying behind one of these cages.

"The Sub-Vissers are responsible for organizing the Pools on Earth," Erek said. "A Visser or Councillor would only visit if inspection was needed, and they never send the same Visser twice."

"What about the councillor?" Maria Louise asked.

"Trying to pick him out of this crowd would be like trying to find a flea on a pack of dogs," he laughed bitterly. "None of the low ranking Yeerks knows the identities of the Yeerks on the Council. I doubt if a Sub-Visser has ever seen one. Why a Councillor would be visiting now is beyond me…from what I can tell, there's no need for inspection."

"So…how the hell did Leeds find out?" Maria Louise asked, suspiciously.

A controller came dangerously close to our hiding place, but walked right by to poke fun at an adult male, crying.

"You guy's better start looking around," Erek warned. "We can't hide here forever."

"I don't see Elias or Leeds!" Olivia said, nervously. "And I can't tell the difference between one Hork-Bajir and another!"

"We all have to keep a calm head about ourselves!" Erek said. "We do not want to freak out and do something stupid!"

And, as if fate had had a hand in the situation, I caught a glimpse of a woman—beautiful in every sense of the word—dressed entirely in black, and walking behind a Hork-Bajir with black bands around its arms.

"Dana…" I said, unaware that I had said the name aloud. I hadn't seen the woman in eight years, but she looked exactly the same; she still wore her hair short and had the same crooked smile. She betrayed the human race by joining the Yeerks as a voluntary host, but my heart still ached at the sight of her. Fate, that cruel mistress whose intention seemed to be to torture my very soul, planned for this meeting; for me to be stationed here in New York when few others were willing to return there; where I would eventually reunite with the woman I had once been in love with. I knew, with very little doubt in my mind, that Dana was the Visser; which made the Hork-Bajir she had been conversing with the Councillor.

"Dana is the Visser!" I shouted. "The Hork-Bajir with the black bands is the councillor."

"Who's Dana?" Maria Louise asked. "What are you going on about?"

"Just trust David on this one," Sandria said, coming to my defence. "He knew her before…she's a voluntary controller."

"Then we've got to tell Leeds and Elias." Fletcher said.

"There's no time." I argued. "We've got to act now!"

"Leeds made it very clear—"

"Fletcher, listen: we do not have time!" I snapped. "Elias said that we can attack once we know who the Visser is. Well, Dana is the Visser, so let's move."

"And what if you're wrong?" Maria Louise asked. "You'll blow the mission."

"Then I guess we're fucked." I snapped. I threw Maria Louise a challenging look, hoping that it would remind her of the night before. She nodded obediently and began to morph.

A nine foot Taxxon stood in the stead of Maria Louise, waiting patiently for further instructions. Olivia morphed into a cheetah, while Sandria morphed into a Rhinoceros. Fletcher and I morphed into the big cats of the African Jungle; Fletcher became a tiger and I became the king of all cats—the Lion.

I looked at my team, the Alternamorphs; five mighty warriors prepared for, perhaps, the deadliest battle of their entire lives. This was our finest hour. This was our chance to prove ourselves;/to break the mould set by past divisions of the Resistance. We would no longer be disposable soldiers used for suicide missions, but the heroes that we all dreamt of becoming. And now I was the leader of this group of warriors; of aliens and jungle cats. And being the leader that Sandria said I would have to be, I let out a mighty roar.

Every head in the Pool Complex turned towards the source of the roar, and everyone face had been one of confusion. And, like something out of an A rated action film that only Hollywood could think up, I leapt from behind the hologram, and landed ten feet from one of the Pool Piers. For a few seconds, nobody spoke, as if the lion that had appeared from nowhere was presently standing in front of them. When it was decided that I really did exist, and had not been a figment of one's imagination, ten or fifteen controllers opened fire. I roared in response and began to paw at the men and women who ran towards me.

Within seconds I had been surrounded by more than fifteen controllers, and each one of them had been armed with a Dracon Beam. Most of the time, the fire from the Dracon Beam missed, but I was not indestructible; some parts of my lion form had been singed. Once, a stray Dracon Beam hit and killed one of the controllers on my left, which forced the others to be more cautious about aim. When it seemed as though the controllers had overwhelmed me—that they completely had me surrounded— the head of a Taxxon appeared, as if by magic, and swallowed a human controller whole. Then, three more controllers had been picked off by Maria Louise.

When Hork-Bajir and Taxxon controllers decided to join this battle, the rest of my team decided to make its presence known: Fletcher leapt at a Hork-Bajir and clawed at its face; Sandria charged into a group of controllers who were advancing towards the fray; and Olivia had been fighting by my side.

"They're hiding behind a hologram!" Dana cried from the other side of one of the Yeerk Pools. "Don't just stand there—kill them! Use your weapons! Open fire!"

More controllers began to open fire on the five animals that had somehow managed to breach security. We all broke apart from each other, each trying to get closer to the Visser and the Councillor, but the controllers started to come in larger numbers, and in a mix of Hork-Bajir, Taxxon and Human. Eventually, I lost sight of my team mates, but I didn't allow my separation from my team to distract me from my goal: I had to get within reach of the Visser, a fast. I knew that Fate intended it to be me to take down the Visser; by the end of the day, I would have to kill Dana.

I'm not sure if I wanted to kill Dana or not, but I knew that I wouldn't have much of a choice if the opportunity arose. My heart still ached from her betrayal, but I knew that she could never return to our side; she was a voluntary controller, the enemy.

"Kill it!" a controller cried in panic. "It's going to try to kill the Visser!"

I leapt at a woman a few feet away from me and tore at her throat, tasting flesh and blood in my mouth. I was hit by a woman on my left, but she was dead within seconds. I had not lost control of the morph; the lion had not taken over. I knew what I had done, and relished in the deaths of these controllers. I had killed around ten controllers before I reached the Visser, and I felt no remorse; it was absolutely required that I killed them. To spare a controller would put I me and my team mates in jeopardy. Really, it was a "them or me" mentality that I had developed, and I chose myself. I mean, what's a few hundred—few thousand, few hundred thousand—lives compared to the billions at stake? The people who died today were given freedom from the parasites in their heads. And if I killed any voluntary controllers, they would regret ever betraying the human race.

I fought my way towards the Visser, who stood with the Councillor on the other side of the Yeerk Pool. After killing yet another controller, I had a clear opening to the Visser; only the thinnest strip of sludge stood in the way of a ravenous lion and the woman who broke that lion's heart. This was a minor obstacle for the new David Matherson, king of the jungle; killer of controllers; conqueror of the Pools.

I took a mighty leap over the Yeerk pool, like some sort of action hero, avoiding Dracon Beam fire that seemed to have been in slow motion. The Dracon Beams soared past me as I flew over the Yeerk Pool. And, just as every cat should, I landed gracefully on my feet, mere inches from Dana and the Councillor.

((Nice to see you again, Dana.)) I said, coyly. ((It's been…eight years since we've last seen each other, correct? I'm going to make this short and sweet—))

Tseeewwww!

I fell on my side after being hit by a Dracon Beam that must have been set to _kill. _I looked up to see a content Hork-Bajir, a smiling and cocky Dana, and Zane Leeds holding a Dracon Beam directed right at me. Right behind my fearless leader was a panting, but otherwise pleased Elias. Leeds caught me staring up at Elias and grinned,

"Your remember Mak 1170, right David?" Leeds asked. "Of course you remember—the Yeerk I _interrogated_ three days ago? The Yeerk who told us about the Visser's visit?

"He needs to feed." Dana said, observing Elias. "I doubt you have much time left, Mak 1170."

"Do not worry, Visser Thirty-One." Elias said, wiping off some sweat from his brow. "I had been about to feed when the humans decided to attack…I didn't think they would reveal themselves so quickly. But no matter, we have brought you the last of the Resistance stationed in New York; the city is now under control of the Empire."

"That is what we like to hear." Dana smiled. "You will be rewarded, Mak 1170, but first you must feed. Are all the humans of the division present?"

"Yes, and capturing them shouldn't be too difficult." Leeds smiled. "The Hork-Bajir assigned to me will take care of the rest of them."

((You miserable fuck!)) I shouted. ((Traitor!))

"Oh come on David," Leeds laughed. "Earth is done for. You might as well join the Empire voluntarily and get the highest ranking possible."

((What about all of that crap you spewed out yesterday morning?)) I asked. ((About being masters of our fate? About resisting the Empire?))

"Impressive speech, eh?" Leeds smiled. "Unfortunately, I can't take credit for it; Mak wrote it up."

Dax and Zar appeared from behind the Councillor, dragging a struggling cheetah and the human Fletcher.

"The Rhinoceros and the Taxxon have been apprehended, sire." Dax said, speaking coherent English for the first time in his life. "Shall we kill them?"

"We will not kill them yet," Dana mused. "They will, of course, suffer for conspiring against the Empire…put them on my Blade ship—these two can go to cell block D. I want to know everything about the intruders, so I can fully enjoy torturing them." Dana turned to me and laughed. "Tell them to demorph, now!"

((How about you go fuck yourself, babe?)) I spat.

"Fine—tell everyone to demorph, or I'll kill the cheetah." She pointed a Dracon Beam at Olivia, and Leeds and Elias did the same.

((If anyone can hear me…demorph.)) I said, speaking public thought speech so every member of the Alternamorphs would listen. ((Leeds and Elias are Controllers…everybody back down.)) I started to demorph, all the while cursing the names and family members of the Councillor, Dana and Zane Leeds. I sat beneath Dana, now completely unscathed. I could hear Maria Louise's thought speech, but it sounded distant. I could just make out the word _fucker. _Olivia demorphed from a cheetah to a human, and sat down beside a quiet, but otherwise conscious, Fletcher.

"I'm actually not a Controller." Leeds said. "That was part of the agreement: I hand over the last division of the Resistance in New York, and I get to join the Empire while keeping my freedom."

"You two—get the remaining humans." The Councillor said to Dax and Zar. "Take them to the Visser's Blade Ship."

"Damn you!" Elias cried, firing the Dracon Beam at Dana. The shot missed by a mile, but it threw Dana off guard, allowing Elias to successfully take down the Visser. Elias started swearing madly and had begun to strangle my ex-girlfriend.

"Control your host, Mak 1170." The Councillor said, calmly. "Do not give in to its pathetic resistance."

"You better take a look at his ear." Leeds said, suddenly alarmed.

Everyone turned to Elias, accept for Dana, who had stared up at Elias; I could just make out the pale Grey Yeerk sliding down his cheek and falling to the floor, dead.

The Councillor moved towards Elias, who turned and moved away from Dana. Elias looked at me, his eyes filled with tears of remorse and pain. His attention then turned to the Dracon Beam by his feet. He dove for it and pressed it against his temple. Then his eyes met mine and he said,

"I'm sorry David…honestly I am…" and he fired the Dracon Beam, his headless corpse landing mere inches away from Dana.

"One less to split the profits with, I guess." Leeds laughed.

Dana stood over me, rubbing the area of her neck where Elias had done the most damage. "You know what, David—it's been far too long since we've last seen each other." She smiled viciously. "I think we should spend some quality time together—to get reacquainted. Hey, we can talk about the good old days."

"If it's alright with you, Visser," Leeds said. "I would like to deal with the Taxxon myself…I have something of a score to settle."

"Do whatever you please, human." The Visser said absent minded. "Hell, you can have all of them if you wish…but not David. I want David for myself."


	10. A Means to an End

**A means to an end**

I sat alone in the dark cell, stowed away upon the Blade Ship of Visser Thirty-One, whose host body had been, of all people on the planet, my ex-girlfriend. I was feeling pretty low at the moment. The mission had been a fiasco, a plot devised by the traitor, Zane Leeds, and Elias, who had been infested three days ago. Now, Elias was dead, Fletcher and the Bates twins were imprisoned in a part of the Blade Ship, and Leeds was now doing something sinister to Maria Louise; apparently, the two had a score to settle, and I shuddered at the thought of what Leeds, with his fucked up morals and arrogance, had in mind. That the mission was a failure was not my fault, but I still blamed myself; for not realizing that Elias had become a controller, and for not seeing Zane Leeds for what he truly was, a snake! But I couldn't understand how a member of the human race could sell out their friends, family and team mates, and be so willing to relinquish their freedom.

The door to my cell flew open, and a bright white light filled the room, blinding me. Dana stepped forward, the sound of her heels echoing off the bare walls of my prison cell. She grabbed me by the hair and forced my head upwards, so my eyes would meet hers. She wore an arrogant smile upon her face, and she whispered, with relish,

"Your friend Fletcher is dead."

Dana laughed and turned to her guards, a group of pre-mature looking Taxxons, none of which were armed with Dracon Beams. My head hung to the side, where all I could see was the hilt of Dana's belt, where a Dracon Beam hung lazily by her thigh.

"Turn on the lights, just a bit; I want to David cry."

The room lit up, just enough for me to see Dana's facial expressions, though not nearly strong enough to draw attention to the plethora of wounds that covered my naked and burnt flesh.

"And close the door!" she barked. "You lot can have whatever's left of him once I've finished.

The door to my cell closed with a classical _whoosh, _leaving me at the mercy of my ex-girlfriend. I doubt if any of the characters from Friends ever found themselves in this situation.

"Your entourage," I said, struggling to keep my body upright. "They're controllers, I presume."

"No, they're free. But really, what difference does it make—the Taxxons are on our side." She crouched down low in front of me, smiling. "Now that the Empire has a large abundance of human hosts, my race no longer needs to be assigned to the pitiful Taxxon race. I was assigned to three before I was given this…lovely body. You cannot imagine the hunger…it can drive any stable man to insanity."

"Well congratulations on your promotion." I said sarcastically. "I am so very happy for the both of you."

"You know David; we could have continued our relationship…if you would only joined the Empire."

"I'm confused…who am I speaking to, Dana or Visser Thirty-One?"

"We are one and the same, David." The Visser said. "Dana and I cooperate with one another, so we both share control of this body. Dana is a voluntary host, so the two of us get along wonderfully. This is what your race has to look forward to; if only you would agree to a symbiotic relationship."

"Why would any _sane_ human willingly give up their freedom to a parasite?" I asked. "I don't understand either of you; honestly I don't. How can you live a life where somebody….something else is in control of everything you say and do?"

"Cooperation between Yeerk and man is possibly if one becomes a voluntary host." Visser Thirty-One repeated. "I learn from Dana, and Dana learns from me."

"And what, exactly, have the two of you learned?" I asked.

"Dana wasn't a very bright girl, was she?" The Visser said. "But I was able to show her things—teach her things—that no other man, woman or educator could ever show her; entire planets, galaxies and races that are far more advanced than any species to be found on this planet."

"And what about you, Visser?" I asked. "What have you learned?"

The Visser smiled. "Dana taught me to understand this human obsession with reproduction." She placed both hands on her chest and took a firm grasp. "Initially, I couldn't understand female breasts; aside from providing mil for infants, they are nothing more than a distraction…albeit, a pleasurable distraction." She looked at me with an inviting grin. "Would you like to feel them?"

"You disgust me!" I spat.

"Would you like to know if he was better than you?" Dana asked. "Dana had another lover after she left you…not too long after I infested her, in fact."

"No, I'm not really interested."

"Did you k now that Dana had been so unsatisfied with your performance?" she laughed. "You never were able to do anything…spectacular…anything unorthodox that would have left a smile on Dana's face…is that why she left you?''

"Fuck you!"

"He_ was_ better than you." Dana…or the Visser taunted. By this point, I couldn't distinguish one from the other. "His name was Aaron Phelps; the former Visser Five. Aaron was just as curious about Human reproductive organs as I was…so we agreed to mutual fornication.

"Dana also told me that he was much bigger than you…" the Visser giggled. "She was dumbfounded by the size of it…now, was it eight or nine inches?"

"What do you want from me?" I cried. "We lost and you won; so if you want to kill me, go right ahead. Just kill me and get on with your pathetic invasion."

"This has its benefits," she grinned. "I always loved watching you get all fired up over every little thing. Do you remember when I refused to sleep with you—even after we had been living together?"

"You…can you fuck yourself."

"I think that would please Dana more than you ever did." The Visser laughed wickedly. "I guess you wouldn't want to prove yourself right now?"

"Don't count on it, Yeerk." I snarled. "I am not so easily manipulated by women… not anymore."

"What if I let you touch them?" Dana asked. "Maybe _that _would get you all fired up."

"You can go fuck yourself!"

"You know, Fletcher wasn't nearly as rude. Not even when his own children shot him dead."

"What did you say?" I asked, snapping to attention.

"Leeds told me everything about you…all of you. I brought Fletcher's children aboard the Blade Ship and had them kill Fletcher. It was quite the sight; a true family reunion. He cried, and moaned and begged…until his son shot him.

"But Fletcher's death wasn't nearly as dramatic as the Bates girl, crying after we had her twin sister brought to her cell…that twin is on our side now."

"Which twin?" I asked. "Which twin did you infest?"

"Sandria Bates." Dana smiled. "I've been told that you slept with the girl…really David, you couldn't get laid by a woman your own age? You had to resort to lechery?"

"You're lying." I said. If I had the strength to do so, I would have lunged at her. Instead, I sat back, propped against the wall of the cell. "Fletcher's alive, and Sandria isn't a controller."

"You know that I'm telling the truth, David." Dana sighed. "Denial is a pathetic aspect of the human race that I don't particularly appreciate…it's like your pathetic denial of the power of the Empire; all of you, fighting because you have this pathetic glimmer of hope that your race will defeat ours. You must accept the might of the Empire."

"From what I've been told, there is some disagreement within the Empire."

"A slight schism is not enough to bring down the Empire." Dana shrugged. "Darmenian will fall soon enough, and the Council of Thirteen will triumph; everything will be as it was."

"And you say you hate denial." I laughed…well, coughed. "Your Empire is crumbling around you…you high and mighty Vissers can't even keep your own foot soldiers in line."

"We have nearly conquered Earth." Dana retorted.

"All great Empires Fall." I reasoned. "Take a look at Egypt, and the Romans, and Napoleon…Castles made of sand fall into the sea…eventually."

"You were never a Hendrix fan." Dana replied.

"No, but the man knew what he was talking about." I shifted a bit. "The Empire _will_ fall, and something bigger—with more advanced technology, and with stronger numbers—will come around…I think your downfall is coming very, very soon."

"I wouldn't count on it, David." Dana said, moving closer to me. We were face to face with each other. "I mean, look what happened today—look at what you're up against…just…just go with it."

Dana's lips met my own, but I didn't kiss her back. The Visser…or Dana, I'm not sure which, looked down at me, visibly annoyed.

"Then I guess I'll just have to kill you." She shrugged. "I will not dignify the situation by infesting you."

"You're ripping me apart!" I said, sarcastically. "How could I bear to go on without having a parasite eat away at my brain?

"Look at what happened to you, Dana: you can't even tell who you are anymore—Dana or Visser Thirty-One. The both of you have serious mental issues. Your whole symbiosis plan will never work—the Empire is fucked!"

"Shut your mouth, human!" the Visser spat. "You will not speak to a Visser like that. You are at my mercy!"

Dana/Visser Thirty-One reached for the hilt of her belt for the Dracon Beam.

Tseeewwww!

Dana's body toppled over to the floor, motionless. I had made sure to keep the conversation going long enough that she wouldn't notice that I had taken her Dracon Beam. I set it on stun, so she would remain conscious. I wanted the Visser and her host to see how I had bested them. I morphed into Dana's clone.

"You know, I never thought that I would ever have to use this morph." I said with Dana's voice. I began to undress the stunned Visser whose eyes stared up at me in surprise. "Well…I mean, for things other than touching myself…by the way, I think I will give those bad boys a feel."

I placed a hand on Dana's left breast and squeezed it like some sort of hormone crazed teenager on a first date. "I have to say, they aren't nearly as firm as I remember…but age tends to have that effect on a woman."

Within minutes I was fully clothed, wearing the Vissers black-leather attire. I placed the Dracon Beam around the hilt of my belt and looked down at my clone. I had the most arrogant look on my face at that moment, looking down in triumph at my ex-girlfriend and her twisted co-part, lying on the cold metal floor.

"And Visser," I said, right before I opened the cell door. "This is going to hurt me a lot more than it will hurt you."

The cell door flew open with a _whoosh_ and I dimmed the lights of the cell. "He's finished." I said to the group of Taxxons standing outside the cell. "Go ahead and have at him."

I am not sure of how much the Taxxons understood, but clearly Dana had promised them my remains, so they entered the cell rather excitedly.

I would have been ashamed of giving Dana over to a group of hungry Taxxons if she hadn't killed and infested all of my friends. Besides, she felt no remorse about killing Fletcher. So, I watched, unsmilingly, as three full-grown and hungry Taxxons surrounded the naked woman's body and devoured the person who had been the real Visser Thirty-One. I left the Dracon Beam on stun specifically so that Dana and the Visser would feel as much pain as they had caused. I wanted her head to be filled with the silent screams of the hundreds of thousands of people locked up down in the Pools.

I locked the cell door, leaving the Taxxons to enjoy the splendours of the feast. Hopefully, their hunger would not be quenched, and the miserable creatures would turn on each other. I honestly hoped they enjoyed it.

The hallways of Cell Block D had been the equivalent of the Labyrinth of Minos; a never ending maze filled with twist and turns, and cells at every corner. Fortunately, I had more than enough time to try and find the rest of my team mates; about two hours' worth of time. And because I wore the guise of the host body to Visser Thirty-One, I wasn't stopped by any guards on my way to the Cell containing Maria Louise and Olivia Bates. My morph only looked a few years younger than the real Dana, but the difference wasn't too significant; a Hork-Bajir wouldn't notice, and the Taxxons didn't seem to notice either. There were only two people on this ship who would notice that I might not really be Visser Thirty-One; the Councillor and Leeds, and I did not count on running into either of them any time soon.

Just as soon as I thought it, I saw Leeds exiting a cell; wearing a pleased smile on his face. He must have been through with torturing Maria Louise. It took every ounce of will power not to shoot Leeds with my Dracon Beam. I wanted to kill him, and I could have killed him right then and there, but I didn't think such a thing would be wise. Instead of shooting him and avenging the life of Fletcher—and who knows how many others— I entered the cell of Maria Louise, expecting to find the bleeding Nympho-warrior bound in chains.

The door closed behind me, and I was left standing in darkness. There was a foul smell in the cell, a stench that tore at my nostrils and made me wish that I no longer had a sense of smell. I knew that smell quite well; I've become quite familiar with the smell of rotting flesh since our brush in with the Controllers at Free New York a few days ago. The smell was fresh. The room was hot; though, the source of the sudden heat was unknown to me. For some reason, this cell, so very unlike my own, was moist. And, if I strained my ears just a bit, I could hear breathing. The slow and twisted noises that I knew came from the vocal chords of a Taxxon!

I drew my Dracon beam and took aim…but I couldn't see my hand from my face.

((Who's there?)) Maria Louise asked in thought speech. ((Is it the Visser?))

"Maria Louise?" I said.

((So…it is the Visser.)) She said angrily. ((Well…you made a mistake walking into this cell, didn't you?))

"Listen…it's me, David!" I said. "You have to believe me. I morphed into the Visser and I escaped; I'm here to save you!"

((A likely story Visser.)) Maria Louise said. ((But I am beyond saving...thanks to you and your twisted ally.))

I heard the sound of the legs of a Taxxon drawing closer towards me. The breathing grew heavier, and I could almost smell the rotten flesh of animals that wafted from the Taxxon's maw.

((I am going to enjoy eating you Visser!)) Maria Louise said. ((Because I am so very, _very _hungry.))

((If I wasn't in morph, would I be able to use thought speech?)) I said, hoping that I would be able to convince Maria Louise. ((I acquired Dana's morph years ago…you have got to believe me. I'm here to save you.))

((So…you are David.)) She said. ((You're alive.))

"For now, yes." I said. "But I won't be able to play the Visser for very long, so we have to get out of here, A.S.A.P."

((I won't hold you back.)) She said, backing further into the darkness of the cell. ((Go without me David; save the others.))

"Don't be stubborn," I said. "It's nobody's fault that the mission failed. Leeds was a traitor."

((It's not that at all…I'm beyond saving David…I'm trapped in morph.))

"You just have to focus on your real form." I told her. "Trust me, it's difficult, but you just have to focus."

((I've been trying for the better part of an hour, David.)) She cried in anguish. ((Leeds…he did this to me…I was about to demorph back in the Pool Complex, but there were so many controllers around me…I had to fight them off…and Leeds knocked me out…and when I came to, Leeds was sitting in the cell, smiling…he said my time was up!))

"Well…he must have lied to you then." I said, not believing a word I had said. I too had lost track of how much time had elapsed since we were brought to the Blade Ship, but I'm sure it was somewhere around an hour. Still, I couldn't afford to have Maria Louise feeling sorry for herself; not when our very lives were at stake.

((It's no use, you idiot!)) She howled. ((I can't do it! I can't demorph! And it has nothing to do with stress…or anxiety…I'm trapped in this…hideous body_ forever.))_

I could hear the sound of Maria Louise's Taxxon body writhing around in anguish, as her thought speech echoed about in my head; things about losing her humanity, and the never ending hunger of the Taxxon.

"The Andalites will be able to help you." I said. "We just have to get off the Blade Ship and…"

((I am so hungry!)) she moaned. ((Leeds brought in a wounded Hork-Bajir…he left the cell…I tried to control myself, but I could smell blood all over the room…I ate the Hork-Bajir while it was still alive!))

"Maria…." I said, weakly.

((And then…he came in with a Taxxon and he had the two of us fight…to see which one of us would survive…I won…and I ate the Taxxon!))

"Please…don't do this…" I begged.

((But…then, Leeds brought in a dead human…and I _knew_ it was a human, because it smelled different from a Taxxon, or a Hork-Bajir…it was fresh too…dead only half an hour…but it was still whole; bleeding from every part of his body…by then, I didn't bother to fight it…I couldn't beat the hunger….

((Then…the lights came on…and I saw the face of the dead man…)) Maria Louise seemed to be talking aloud, as if I hadn't been in the room at all. ((…it was Fletcher! Fletcher was dead…and I…I devoured his corpse!))

I was going to be sick. Dana told me that Fletcher was dead, and I knew that she had been telling the truth, but I didn't expect her to feed his remains to his own friend and team mate…I started to wonder about how warped Dana's mind had become over these past few years. Dana had become a monster, more vicious than any Taxxon. Dana had ordered Fletcher's death, and she had Sandria infested, solely for the purpose of torturing the last member of the Bates family.

Leeds was just as vile; just as despicable; just as evil. He took away the humanity of the woman that he must have slept with over a dozen times since the war began, a woman who shared so much in common with him. And Leeds had forced Maria Louise to consume whatever had been left of Fletcher, to further the torture and to seal the woman's fate. By consuming a piece of flesh—Hork-Bajir, Taxxon, and Human—Maria Louise had completed her bitter transition from humanity to the life of a cannibal.

But what had all this been for? What had been the purpose of torturing each and every last one of us? We had done nothing personally to Dana or Leeds, so their actions seemed to almost be random. Or had this been a way to set an example for everyone involved in the empire? Was this their way of saying that, conspiring against the Yeerks meant certain torture, if not death, that would drive any sort of person to insanity. Leeds and Dana had tortured us physically, emotionally and psychologically…and they showed no remorse for their actions. I could not, and doubt if I ever would, understand how a person could be so indifferent about murder and torture.

_You had Dana devoured by a swarm of Taxxons, _a voice in the back of my head said to me. _You could have stunned her, but you chose to sink down to her level; really, you are no better._

That had been different. I wanted revenge. Besides, Dana couldn't live, she would have jeopardized everything.

_Who are you to decide who gets to live and who has to die?_

She deserved it. She killed Fletcher.

_You killed as well; not only Dana, but ten or twelve other people down in the Pools. _

That was different…

_And you enjoyed it, too. _

No…the lion enjoyed it…I was just piloting the body.

_You had complete control over the lion's mind, and you know it. You wanted action; to get the same sort of thrill that Leeds and Maria Louise got out of killing. You wanted to be a leader…but the harsh reality of it all is that David Matherson could never be a leader; a follower, sure, and observer…of course, but never a leader. Do everyone a favour and quit trying to play the hero. Get out of this war and go far, far away. Morph into a golden eagle…or a lion…or a rat…The world will be better off without any more soldiers…_

((Kill me….please...))Maria Louise said.

"There is no way in hell that I'm going to kill you." I snapped. "So you'd better quit feeling sorry for yourself, and get back into the fight."

((Did you think I was beautiful, David?)) She asked.

"I did…I lusted after you for eight years…I mean, you had everything a man looks for in a woman…a fiery personality, a sick sense of humour that no other woman has…a body Aphrodite would envy…"

((But not anymore…)) Maria Louise said. ((If only you could see me for what I am now…maybe this is what I really look like underneath the beauty, and the tough exterior, and the huge rack…Maybe, on the inside, I'm just as ugly as a Taxxon.))

"Self-pity is not going to do us any good…we have to get out of here, now!"

((Did you enjoy sleeping with me?)) Maria Louise asked. ((Was…was it any good for you?))

"It was incredible…"

((I didn't think I would enjoy it…but I did. You made me feel things I haven't felt since I was sixteen…you really understand women, David…in some strange way…))

"We have to get out of here…or else Leeds will have won." I said, trying to get Maria Louise back on track.

((I hate to break it to you…but he already has won.)) She said. ((Even if the Yeerks do fall…Leeds succeeds; he gave the Yeerks full control of New York…and he defeated the last division of the Resistance…he won…and I just don't care anymore….please…just…just kill me now David…))

**This was probably my favourite chapter so far. I had a lot of fun writing it. **

**Again, I didn't initially plan to end this chapter here…and it doesn't end the same way in the original draft…but oh well. **


	11. Galaxy One

**Galaxy One**

Finding Olivia Bates' cell was far more difficult than locating the whereabouts of Maria Louise. Technically, I could have stopped and asked any controller on Cell Block D about where Olivia Bates was being held, since I was wearing the body of Visser Thirty-One, but I didn't want to arouse any suspicion. A Visser would have definitely known the location of his or her own prisoner, especially on their own Blade Ship. I remembered that Dana ordered Dax and Zar to bring my team mates to Cell Block D, but there could have been fifty cells in that block alone. I would need to have a controller take me to Olivia, which meant that I would have to find either the Councillor, Dax and Zar, or Leeds; though, I didn't trust myself around Zane Leeds, not when I knew that I would kill him the second the opportunity presented itself. I decided that Dax and Zar would be the best choice, as they were both now members of the Visser's guard, and their Yeerks would most likely carry out whatever order their demented leader gave them.

Dax and Zar were not stationed together, which had been strange enough, as neither Hork-Bajir had been apart from the other in the eight years that I've known them. I never found Dax, but I did see Zar outside cell 1039 with two other Hork-Bajir—though, how I managed to distinguish one Hork-Bajir from the other was beyond me; all three aliens were over six-feet tall, covered in metal blades, and resembled a dinosaur. But I knew that the Hork-Bajir in the middle had been Zar. Maybe it had something to do with his eyes. I've heard, often enough, that the key to every man's soul was his eyes; perhaps that applied to Hork-Bajir as well.

"Good morning, Visser." Zar said, kneeling down before me on one knee and taking a bow. The other Hork-Bajir mimicked their unwilling co-part. "Have you taken care of young David?"

"He's dead." I said, attempting to mimic Dana's cold and manipulative voice. "Now we must tend to the Bates girl."

"Would you like me to assist you, Visser?" Zar asked. "The filth in this cell has no hopes of escaping."

"Yes, that will do." I nodded. "Lead the way."

Zar took me down the hall of Cell Block D, to an unguarded cell marked 1170. It was a cell that looked identical to the many other cells around the Block; circular, metallic doors, guarded by two or three aliens. I found the Prison Block of the Blade Ship to be quite dull indeed, and I wasn't a big fan of chrome.

"The Bates girl has agreed to voluntary infestation." Zar laughed. "These foolish humans will agree to anything if the lives of their loved ones are in danger. Their flaw is our gain."

"Flaw?" I repeated, as Zar swiped an access key through the keypad on the cell door.

The cell door opened with a whoosh, and a cheetah leapt out from within the cell, mauling the unsuspecting controller. Zar threw off the raging jungle cat, but he seemed to have sustained a significant amount of damage. He whipped out a Dracon Beam and began to shoot at Olivia. His first shot missed the Cheetah, but Zar shot again.

Tseeeeeeew!

Zar's massive Hork-Bajir body blundered about for a bit after the Dracon Beam pierced his scaly flesh. A second shot was enough to knock him out. The Cheetah eyed me suspiciously.

"Obviously I am not the Visser." I said, returning the Dracon Beam to its place on my belt. "It's me, David."

((And I thought Sandria had been kidding when she told me that you have morphed into a woman.)) Olivia muttered.

"She told you that?"

((You are mistaken if you think that you had some sort of bond with my sister.)) Olivia said. ((You were just a ship that passed through the night.))

"Well…that's neither here, nor there." I said, impatiently. "We have to get out of here."

((Well, isn't that the understatement of the year.)) Olivia said, coyly. ((I'm not leaving until I get Sandria back)).

"And we will get her back." I promised. "But we need a plan first."

((Here's the plan: we storm the place, and kill anyone who crosses our path)).

"Yes, because that worked wonderfully the last time."

((Do whatever you want, David. I'm going to find Sandria.))

"Olivia, you have to relax." I said. "Right now, I'm disguised as Visser Thirty-One. And I know that you've acquired Zar in the past. We could have Sandria handed to us if we asked. Then, we could sneak her off the Blade Ship."

((And where, exactly, are we going to sneak her off to?)) Sandria asked. ((Deep space?))

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." I said.

((You are starting to sound a lot like Maria Louise.)) Olivia said, bitterly. ((But we don't seem to have much of a choice, do we?))

I didn't say anything in response. I didn't want to think about Maria Louise. Thinking about Maria Louise would make me think about Fletcher, and thinking about Fletcher, and bits and pieces of his flesh scattered all over a cell door, made me think about how Leeds had brought this whole nightmare upon us.

"You'd better demorph, before someone finds out that you aren't really interested in joining the Empire."

((Sandria acquired Zar; I acquired Dax.)) Olivia said, as she began to demorph.

"Then it is a good thing that we have the real Zar at our disposal, eh?" I said. "Hurry up and acquire him."

The now human Olivia Bates bent over the unconscious Zar, and placed a hand on his scaly flesh. I then watched as Olivia had begun to morph into our hostage. I turned to see if any controllers had heard the exchange of Dracon Beam fire, and waited for the grunts and whispers of oncoming controllers.

"We need to find a place to hide Zar." I said, turning to see if Olivia had completed the morph. "The last thing we want is—"

Olivia drove her left wrist-blade into the Zar's skull and twisted it. The sound of the metal blade, and the white bone of the Hork-Bajir blended together to produce a noise that offended the ears; a low, crunching sound that sounded like the bark of a tree snapping.

"What the fuck did you do that for?" I screamed.

"He would have jeopardized the mission if I let him live." Olivia replied.

"But Zar was our friend!"

"He was a controller, David!" Olivia snapped. "It's a fucking shame, and I will live to regret it, but it had to be done."

"Who are you to decide who gets to live, and who has to die?"

_You killed Dana, _my inner voice reminded me. _Don't be a hypocrite._

"Where are we going to hide the body?" I asked, after a moment of silence. "They're going to check the cell eventually."

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it, Visser." Olivia mimicked. She dragged Zar's lifeless body into her cell and then dropped the corpse. I closed the cell door on my dead friend, who once told me—no more than four days ago— about the old days of the Hork-Bajir planet. I frowned at the cell door for a while, thinking about how Zar will never live to see his home again.

We made our way through cell blocks C through A with great difficulty. I lost track of the cell door numbers, and the Hork-Bajir and Taxxon controllers at every corner made me feel as though we had been running around in circles. Everything was made of steel, and all of the prison guards looked the same. I began to wonder if we had actually been placed in a labyrinth, and that the whole idea of being placed on the Blade Ship had been a rouse. Regardless of where we really were, it had been very difficult to navigate our way out of the Prison Block. Olivia and I hadn't spoken the entire time, and I had lost track of how much time I had spent in morph. Oddly enough, I wasn't too worried about the time limit. Being trapped in the body of another human—especially an attractive and physically fit human being—was not nearly as horrifying or traumatic as spending the rest of my days as a Taxxon.

I assumed navigating our way through the Blade Ship would have been a lot easier than trying to find the exit of the Prison Blocks beneath, but I was wrong; it had been much more difficult than before. While the hallways on the upper levels of the Blade Ship bore the same chrome-steel motif as the cells of the lower decks, there had also been numerous doors to rooms; and any one of them could have been the room where the Councillor could be found. The Visser's access card had given us something of an advantage, but it did not change the futility of our task. I reasoned that, given the Yeerk race's obsession with rankings, the Blade Ship would have been designed similarly to the Titanic, or any other cruise ship; with low ranking Yeerks guarding the lower decks, and the head honchoes located at the very top. It was only when Olivia and I had reached the top deck, some twenty or thirty minutes later that we began to check the rooms.

Prior to my hasty imprisonment, I had never seen a Yeerk Blade Ship, let alone the inside of one. But if the outside of the ship looked as massive as the inside, then Olivia and I had no chance of finding the Councillor. We checked five or six rooms and never ceased to be stupefied by what we had seen in each room. In the first room we had checked, much to our distain, a small swarm of Taxxons had been devouring the remains of small creatures that I had never seen before. In another room we found what appeared to be a training facility, where the highest ranking guards of Visser Thirty-One engaged one another in armed combat. But the fifth room we checked had been the most peculiar of all: a room that had been significantly smaller in size compared to any other room we entered, but looked like it had been the only room that belonged there. There were ten pods placed in the center of the room, and floating just above the pods was a peculiar, silver orb. I stepped closer to the pods and the silver orb that hovered above them; hypnotizing my eyes with its perplexing beauty, and scrambling my brain with its eccentricity. Inside most of the pods had been humans, though their faces had been covered by a hideous metallic mask.

"What an interesting room, Visser."

The Councillor stood in the threshold of this strange room. He looked at Olivia, and then directly at me, and stepped into the room. The door closed behind him automatically. He really did seem interested in the room, and looked at each of the pods with an increasing fascination that reminded me of an eight year old child, drooling over sweets and toys, or perhaps a curious-looking frog.

"The pods, as I understand, are designed to place its occupants into a computer simulated world based on the deepest levels of his or her sub-conscious." The Councillor up to one of the pods and laughed. "All of them, placed in a world where the individual may find themselves in the equivalent of paradise…or hell, incarnate. I really appreciate the pure genius of it all, Visser. This way, a prisoner can be tortured repeatedly by whoever is controlling the simulation…very, very interesting, indeed. I am quite surprised that my fellow council members haven't taken notice of your…brilliant creation."

"As you know Councillor, genius goes unrecognized." I replied.

"That is very true, Visser; very true." The Councillor laughed. "I will put in a good word with my co-parts and see that you get a promotion for your competent work."

"I think I would appreciate that very much, Councillor." I lied, smiling.

"Yes, well…we have more pressing matters at hand." He sighed, still observing on of the ten pods. "Your ship is set on due course for our home sector, but I recently received news that a group of renegades are headed towards Earth. We must attend to this matter immediately."

"By renegades, I am sure that you speak of the Animorphs, Councillor?" I asked, with a glimmer of hope.

"One of them…yes. It is the beast who stole the Blade Ship of Esplin 9466 eight years ago. I have been informed that the ship itself is being piloted by two Andalites, while inhabiting a Taxxon, a Hork-Bajir, and a Yeerk."

"Did we approve of the stationing of a controller on an enemy vessel, sire?" I asked.

"No, of course not." The Councillor shook his head like an annoyed elephant. "This Yeerk is the abomination, Deltrix; the Yeerk who disappeared some time ago. I believed him to be dead up until recently…I assure you, he will not escape my wrath a second time."

We followed the Councillor to the ship's bridge, where a large group of controllers were piloting the Blade Ship. Here, through the very eyes of the Blade Ship, I could see entire stars and planets of whatever galaxy we were currently flying in. As a boy, it had been a dream of mine to travel through space, and now that dream had been fulfilled. Unfortunately, this was neither the time nor the place to enjoy the vast beauty of the universe.

"Have we located the renegades, Sub-Visser Seven?" the Councillor asked.

Sandria Bates, now wearing her hair in a ponytail and dressed in a white leotard, turned towards the Councillor from her seat on a black revolving chair; eyes wide, and lips curled into a bone chilling smile.

"Not yet, Councillor." Sub-Visser Seven said. "But do not worry, we will capture the renegades."

"I have complete faith in you, Sub-Visser." The Councillor assured. "And, should we capture them, I will see that you receive a handsome reward."

"Thank you, sire." Sandria smiled. "I would also like to express my deepest gratitude for assigning me this host body… needless to say my Taxxon form was quite unsatisfactory."

"You must be pleased that your twin is successful." The Councillor said. Olivia and I exchanged worried glances as the Councillor observed the controllers below. "Usually, the lesser of the grub is expected to be the disappointment, and the primary Yeerk reaps the reward, but this doesn't seem to be the case for you and your twin, Visser." The Councillor laughed. "You will be surprised to hear that I am a twin as well."

I gathered that the Yeerk currently controlling Sandria's body had been the twin of the Yeerk that had been assigned to Dana. I didn't think that Yeerks could have twins. How does a Yeerk come into being anyway?

"Sire, we are picking up a signal." One of the pilots announced. "We are 98 percent certain that it is the Renegade vessel."

"It must be under concealment." The Councillor said. "Have you pinpointed the enemy vessel's precise location?"

"It is within two thousand clicks of us, Councillor." The pilot replied.

"Then we must open fire." The Councillor ordered.

"Do you think that is wise, Councillor?" I asked, trying to buy my fellow renegades some time to escape the might of the Yeerk Empire. "Should we miss, it may provoke an attack…can we really risk damage to the Blade Ship?"

"Are you disobeying orders, Visser?" the Councillor asked.

"Not at all, Sire." I said quickly. "I am merely suggesting that we wait until we are certain of the proximity between our ship and the Renegade vessel."

The Blade Ship shook violently, but the origins of the attack were unknown by anyone on my ship.

"They've hit us!" the Councillor shouted. "Sub-Visser, begin open fire."

"Sire, there is something else out here!" a Hork-Bajir cried, "We're detecting…but…it can't be!"

"Councillor, we have two Bug Fighters shooting at us on either side." Another controller cried.

"No, wait; there's more…we're being surrounded!"

"Do the Renegades have access to Bug Fighters?" the Councillor asked.

"Sir, we're receiving a message from the Blade Ship of Sarphon 016." The Sub-Visser announced. "Should we accept?"

"We don't seem to have much of a choice." The Councillor snarled. The Blade Ship shook after another round of Dracon Cannon fire from the Bug Fighters.

A man's face appeared on the view screen. Actually, he looked no older than twenty-five at the very least. He was a dark haired young man, whose face was cold from eight years of war, and there was something about the scowling gaze he gave to every living soul aboard my Blade Ship that suggested that this man had a temper.

"It is truly a pleasure to see you once again, Councillor." The man said, curling his pale red lips into a crude smile. Sarphon spoke to the Councillor as if he had been the scum of the earth, and given the look of disgust and, dare I even say, fear, on the Councillor's face, I would have guessed that he was correct. The clothes he wore—some sort of silver battle armour that appeared to shimmer under the light of his Blade Ship—the sound of his voice—both soft and authoritative—and the egotistic look that could be seen in his pale blue eyes gave off the appearance of a dictator. "I believe that I have warned you already about entering my sector of this galaxy…I thought we had an agreement, Councillor."

"I do not cooperate with traitors, Sarphon." The Councillor growled. "Nor do I take orders from my subordinates."

Sarphon 016 laughed at the Councillor's retort. There was something discomforting about this man's laugh, a sound that no other human could make. It was a dry laugh. I could not tell if his laughter had been forced or if it had been genuine, but I knew that I did not like it. "My dear Councillor, my followers and I no longer recognize the ranks and positions of the Old Empire. We have our own ambitions, and a more efficient system of government."

"Your pathetic excuse for an Empire will crumble eventually…and when it does I will see to it that the Empire has your host's head in a sack!"

"Ah, but you are mistaken, Councillor." Sarphon said, silkily. "Presently I have your Blade Ship surrounded by a fleet of Bug Fighters, and each one is piloted by members of my own guard. Sixteen Bug Fighters are flying in the space around your ship, and each has enough power to reduce your vessel apart. Any attempt at retaliation would be futile, to say the least."

I observed Sarphon, and judging by the calm smile he had on his face I could tell that he was being serious. I then looked at the Councillor, standing a foot away from me and looking perturbed by his present predicament; at the mercy of a treasonous Yeerk who had been armed with a Blade Ship and sixteen Bug Fighters. We had no hope of escaping, not when all of Sarphon's Bug Fighters had us completely surrounded, and I doubt if the Councillor was willing to risk a chance at shooting Sarphon's Blade Ship.

"I ask you, Councillor," Sarphon smiled. "Are you foolish enough to fight off my army?"

I heard the Councillor mutter something under his breath, but it must have been in his native language because I could not understand whatever it was he had said. I could tell that the Councillor wanted to object to Sarphon's claim; to shout out this treasonous soldier; to reveal this Yeerk, hiding beneath a smug smile and silver armour, that he was beneath the Council and the Orthodox Empire, but he knew that he couldn't. The Councillor wasn't an imbecile; he knew that Sarphon was correct.

"I didn't think so." Sarphon laughed his demonic laugh once more. "I am going to board your vessel, Councillor. I have already opened the window."

Sarphon's face disappeared from the view screen, and we were now looking at the vast stretch of black that had been outer space. The Councillor, no longer under the watchful eye of the traitorous Sarphon 016, unleashed his furry on the inhabitants of my Blade Ship. He walked up to the nearest controller, a pudgy white male, and pierced his flesh with his wrist blade. Once the controller fell to the floor, the Councillor continued his rampage by slaughtering six other human controllers. "Don't just sit there with your hands on your lap, Sub-Visser; open the window!"

"The window is open, Councillor." Sub-Visser Seven said mere minutes later. "Shall we prepare to defend ourselves?"

"No…surely he will have his guard with him." The Councillor said hatefully.

An orange beam of light, in the form of a cylinder, shone from a circular platform that lay behind Councillor Three, and within mere seconds several shapes materialized into three-dimensional beings. The man known by the Yeerk Empire as Sarphon 016 stood in front of five creatures that looked more like demons than any sort of extraterrestrial that I have ever seen. The only thing that came close in comparison to these…creatures that Sarphon had brought with him onto the Blade Ship would be the creatures of classical myth, but even that wasn't sufficient enough. One of the creatures resembled a manticore, in that it was composed of three different creatures; but instead of a creature with a man's face, a lion's body, and a scorpion tail ending with spikes, this creature had a torso that looked as though it had been sculpted from play dough, five spider-like legs, and a mass of eyes and mouths for a face. Beside the manticore-demon had been a blue humanoid with five arms but no face, and two cannons on the arms at the center of its torso. The shortest of the five beasts had been a pair of cat-like creatures with drooping eyes and magma dripping out from the corners of their mouths. The largest of any other in the group was a demon that bore the appearance of a dragon but lacked the wings. I now understood why the Councillor had not argued with Sarphon when he said that he was going to board our ship.

"These are not the same…soldiers that you brought with you the last time we met." The Councillor said, observing Sarphon's guard with a mixed look of disgust, fear and interest. "Where did you ever find these…creatures?"

"I found them from the deepest crevices of the universe, on planets that very few wish to visit." Sarphon stepped down from the platform, which the Councillor referred to as _the window._ "They belong to planets that were once prominent, but fell to war, famine and pestilence. They are the sole survivors of their race. I have provided them with sanctuary on my Blade Ship, and they have agreed to infestation."

"Do they understand gallard?" The Councillor asked, watching bits of magma drip from the mouths of one of the hell cats.

"I am not really sure of what language any of them speak, to be quite honest." Sarphon laughed. "But they seem to recognize charity when they see it."

"So what is it that you wish to discuss with me?" The Councillor asked.

"I understand that my old friend Darmenian is offering you and the rest of the council refuge if you agree to recognize him as the sole ruler of the Yeerk Empire."

"We have no interest in Darmenian's offer." The Councillor said.

"But perhaps the opinion of the council will change once it is put in a position that demands cooperation with Darmenian…say, for example, the obliteration of the Pool Ship."

"Impossible, I assure you." The Councillor replied. "The location of the Pool Ship is secure."

"I know exactly where it is hidden." Sarphon said. "And Darmenian knows as well. And should that location change, I am sure we will be able to locate the Pool Ship again…effortlessly. You will be surprised by how many supporters Darmenian and I have at our disposal."

"Get to the point!" the Councillor snapped.

"I will offer you the refuge that Darmenian has promised to the Council, as well as high positions reserved for the Council of Thirteen in the new Empire. The difference, however, between Darmenian and I, is that I can deliver."

"Go on." The Councillor said.

"Should the Council agree to cooperate, then I will see to it that each of you will be assigned to the bodies of my deadliest soldiers." Sarphon motioned towards his five demonic servants. "There are plenty more where these come from, Councillor."

I looked at Councillor Three intently. I could see that he had been considering the renegade's offer, and why shouldn't he? Despite the blatantly hideous appearance of these soldiers, one could not help but be intrigued by the raw power and build of Sarphon's guard. Had I been a Yeerk, I would have lusted over the bodies of these hideous creatures.

"You understand that I cannot speak for the rest of the Council." The Councillor said. "Even if I accept your offer, the Emperor will never stand for it."

"Councillor, I am almost certain that I will get the same response from your co-parts." Sarphon smiled. "As for the Emperor, he has no choice but to accept…so, do we have a deal?"

"Sire, something is coming through the window!" Sub-Visser Seven cried.

"You left the window open?" Councillor Three shouted. "Don't just stand there, Sub-Visser, close it!"

I turned to see a brilliant orange light, taking the form of a cylinder, shine from the circular platform placed directly behind me; the outlines of the intruders was already visible to the eye, though I couldn't quite tell what they were just yet. I heard the Councillor shouting at Sub-Visser Seven behind me. Soon enough, perhaps after two minutes, I could clearly make out the identities of the intruders: two Andalites, a Hork-Bajir, a Taxxon and a lion that bore some similarities to the one that I had acquired mere days before.

"The renegades!" the Councillor shouted. "Do not let them escape, or I will see to it that each and every last one of you is executed by the Council!"

The lion roared.

The renegades leapt from the platform.

The battle commenced.


	12. Galactamorphs

**Galactamorphs**

**Part I: Animals!**

The battle that followed the dramatic entrance of the renegades had been pure chaos: controllers of every race—Hork-Bajir, Taxxon and Human made up the majority—firing their Dracon Beams at what appeared to be every corner of the room as the renegades took on five or six controllers each, and Sarphon and his guard watched idly by, deciding that now was not the time for them to strike…yet. Olivia and I stood beside the Councillor, unsure of whether or not to join the battle; joining the renegades would doubtlessly blow our cover—making any attempt at the element of surprise futile—but helping the Yeerks, the very parasites that now controlled my home planet, would put the renegades at an obvious disadvantage. I looked at Olivia nervously, hoping that she had some sort of plan; instead she shrugged and remained silent, watching the battle unfold.

The renegades seemed perfectly capable of holding their own, as they did not seem to be in any immediate danger at the time, but luck has a nasty habit of changing, and there was still the threat of Sarphon's guard to consider. My attention kept shifting from one side of the Blade Ship, from the mass of Taxxon and Hork-Bajir bodies currently attacking the two Andalite warriors, to the Lion that had just maimed a Human Controller. I then turned my attention to Sarphon 016, who smiled arrogantly as Yeerk and renegade fought to the bloody death. I was really trying to read his thoughts, to see if his facial expression would give a hint to as when he would summon the small horde of demons currently jumping and panting behind his back, but I saw nothing.

The lion had just taken down a rather large Hork-Bajir when it decided to take on Sarphon, apparently indifferent to Sarphon's guard. The lion seemed to have been communicating with Sarphon, judging by the way it paced back and forth in front of the indifferent controller, but I couldn't hear their thought speech.

"We must fight." The Councillor said, watching his subordinates fight the rebels below. "I will take on the Andalites. You and your servant will attack the lion."

"Your will is my command, sire." Sandria said.

I grabbed the Dracon Beam that hung from the hilt of my belt, and I followed my Hork-Bajir comrade into the bloody battlefield below, ducking under stray Dracon fire that missed one of the renegades, and leaping over the corpses of the newly dead; the stench had not yet been present, but blood poured through fresh wounds like water from a spout.

"Can you get a clear shot of Sarphon?" I shouted to Olivia, who did not seem to be running towards Sarphon. "Olivia, stop!"

Olivia threw a human controller out of the way and ran towards Sub-Visser Seven, who had been busy with the Taxxon renegade. I would have followed the girl, but I suddenly found myself at the mercy of a 500 pound lion.

((Visser Thirty-One…I am very pleased to meet you, after all this time!)) The lion stared down at me, glaring with its yellow eyes. I don't know how it managed to do it—perhaps he had been much more skilled at morphing than any of the Bates sisters—but it looked as though the lion was…smiling at me…almost grinning… ((You will not believe how difficult it has been to track you down…but here we are, guests in your humble abode…I apologize if my entourage and I are being…discreet, but we have some business to attend to…))

"Listen, it's not what it looks like…" I gasped beneath the lion. The weight of the jungle cat strained my breathing, and I feared that it would crack every bone in my body. "Just give me a chance to explain…"

((Yea…I don't see that happening.)) The lion laughed. He turned to Sarphon, who continued to stare at the two of us as though he had been watching a hilarious episode of Seinfeld. ((Are you ready to make a wager, Sarphon?))

"Why on Earth would I do that?" he asked, smiling calmly. "If you want to kill her, go ahead…I don't really care much for the Vissers of the Empire…they always seem to disappoint me…"

((David, I don't know if we'll be able to hold them off any longer!)) a voice said from somewhere on the battlefield.

"You can't stay, then?" Sarphon asked in mock disappointment. "Too bad. I was just about to get my guard to join in…perhaps it's not too late…"

Sarphon turned to the members of his guard, that sadistic smile still etched upon his smug face, and jerked his head to the right. The demon-like beasts made a noise in unison, and leapt forward, each running in a different direction. The lion that had me at its mercy growled in what I took to be annoyance, and jumped at the manticore-like creature. I was now free, albeit sore from the weight of the massive jungle cat. I maintained a firm grip on my Dracon Beam and turned away from the ever smiling Sarphon, whose eyes stared at me with a disturbing curiosity. I followed the lion.

Tseeewwww!

I shot at a Taxxon that had been eating away at the Hork-Bajir I recognized as Zar. The Taxxon stared down at me, as though it has been confused by this sudden turn in events. I feared that it would eventually discover that I was not really the Visser, so I shot the beast repeatedly until it lay on the floor of the Blade Ship, motionless. The Hork-Bajir beneath the dead Taxxon stared up at me with pained eyes and it looked as though it wanted to say something to me, so I leaned closer to her.

"David…" Olivia whispered hoarsely. "David…"

"Olivia, you've got to demorph, quickly!" I said, shaking her violently. "I can't do this without you!"

"David…" she whispered a second time, never breaking her gaze. "Sandria..."

"You want me to get Sandria?" I asked, leaning forward. "What do you want me to do?"

"Kill…" she said, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Kill…"

"Do you want me to kill Sandria?" I asked desperately.

"Me…" she choked. Her body twitched in a short spasm and she gasped for breath. I looked down to see that there had been very little of her torso left. "Kill me…" she gasped.

I withdrew my hold from Olivia's dying body and backed away, slowly. I stared at her, watching one of my comrade's die; surely she would join Fletcher, Zar and Elias in whatever afterlife awaited her, and I was unsure of whether I pitied the girl or envied her. I'll tell you what didn't happen though: I didn't kill Olivia. No, I let one of the Taxxon controllers finish her off. Why? Because I had been too cowardly to take the life of a person who did not want to live any longer; a person who lost too much in this war, and tired of continuing the fight.

I stood a few feet away from the horrified, and no doubt pain stricken Olivia Bates, as a Taxxon—perhaps the largest I had ever seen—devoured her Hork-Bajir form. And just as I turned to leave the Taxxon to its small feast, I noticed something strange: the nine-foot beast had been staring at me the entire time, even as it devoured Olivia Bates…

((David…we're losing out here!)) Someone cried. ((We have to get out of here!))

((Hang on, I want a souvenir!))

A lion appeared from behind, wearing that menacing grin upon its jungle cat face, staring at me with its yellow eyes.

((It would be a shame if we were to leave without you, Visser.)) The lion laughed in my head. ((I am _really _going to enjoy this…))

Tseeewwww!

The lion fell back, but had been far from severely injured. The Councillor stood by my side, pointing the Dracon Beam at the golden jungle cat with a look of the utmost hatred blaring in his eyes. "I will not rest until I have murdered you, beast!" the Councillor growled. "And then, I will deal with Deltrix!"

"Greeeaaaaaaaaalllllgggg!"

The humanoid with cannons for arms jumped at the Councillor, uttering a cry that tortured the eardrums and tore away at the brain. The Councillor, not expecting the creature to have attacked him—and really had no reason to expect the creature to attack— fell back beneath the weight of the beast. The lion turned its attention to me.

"I'm on your side!" I cried. "Please…give me a chance!"

((It's funny…I've heard that before, and I will not fall for it a third time!))

((David, hang on!)) A woman cried. Her voice, whomever she had been, was so shrill at that moment that both the lion and I turned in surprise; the nine-foot Taxxon was making its way towards us, slithering on the smooth chrome floor of the Blade Ship. When it finally did reach us, it placed itself in between the lion and me, apparently protecting me from the vicious jungle cat. ((I dare you, kitty-cat, make a move!))

"Maria Louise?" I cried in surprise and relief.

((The one and the same…more or less…)) she muttered. ((Seems like you've gotten yourself in a bind…need some help?))

"I am really not sure." I laughed. "I don't know which side I'm on at the moment…"

((David, let's go!))

The Two Andalite soldiers leapt to the lion's side, bearing fresh wounds from battle. Behind the two blue centaur-like beings had been a Hork-Bajir—who appeared to be talking into the microphone of a headset placed around her skull—and a Taxxon that was not nearly as massive as Maria Louise. And we all seemed to huddle together…apparently confused and outnumbered on the enemy Blade Ship, and Sarphon's guard seemed to be closing in on us.

((Do you think we can make the window?)) One of the renegades asked.

"We will have to act quickly" the Hork-Bajir said, turning her back on the lion. "And when I mean quickly I mean light speed!"

((We're outnumbered, my Prince.)) Another one of the renegades said, slightly worried. ((Shall we fight to the death, as your people would say?))

((I'm not exactly big on dying today, Ax-man.)) The lion said. ((This will be one of the few occasions where running is the smart decision, agreed?"

One of the Andalites, looking significantly younger than his comrade, nodded at the golden lion. The Hork-Bajir looked nervously towards the demonic members of Sarphon's guard, drawing nearer to us with ever second step. Meanwhile, the Councillor was still fighting the humanoid soldier with the cannons for hands, and he had not been doing very well; the Councillor's face was covered in fresh wounds, and one of his legs had been missing.

((Are they coming with us?))

((I'm not sure…)) The lion said, staring at Maria Louise and me. ((If she was the real Visser, she would have shot by now…but then again, I've been wrong before…))

"We don't have time to think about it!" the Hork-Bajir growled. It grabbed me by the waist and looked at Maria Louise. "Can you understand me, Taxxon?"

((I've far more capable of understanding the English language than you, Hork-Bajir.)) Maria Louise snarled, visibly insulted. ((I'm a nothlit.))

((They are coming closer, my Prince.)) The young Andalite—Ax-man I think the lion called him.

((Alright! You—Taxxon!)) The Lion snapped. ((Are you willing to cooperate?)) Maria Louise nodded but said nothing. ((Perfect. Toby will handle the Visser. Let's go!))

"What about the Councillor?" I asked, pointing towards the wounded warrior, still struggling to kill Sarphon's demonic solider.

((Does it look like we'll be able to take on that thing?)) The Lion asked, shooting me a look with his yellow eyes.

"David, the window!" the Hork-Bajir cried, pointing to the chrome platform behind the lion. It began to glow.

"My friends and I risked everything to get this guy!" I snapped. "You guys can go if you want, but I'm going to kill him!"

The lion looked at me for a few seconds. ((Dammit, I like her attitude!)) he laughed. ((You guys get to that portal. I'll take on the Councillor.))

((I will help you, my Prince.)) The young Andalite said proudly.

((No, Ax.)) The Lion shook his mane. ((I want every last one of you on that platform. Arbron can stay, but you and Alloran need to get back to the Ship!)) The young Andalite stared at his leader. ((That's and order, Aximili.))

((Don't be stupid, boy!)) The eldest Andalite grunted, grabbing his subordinate. ((Listen to your Prince!))

Reluctantly, the Andalites followed the Hork-Bajir onto the platform, and within mere seconds they vanished.

((I'm staying.)) Maria Louise said. ((I have a score to settle!))

((Perfect, I love settling old scores.)) The lion joked. ((Which one do you want to take, the super-human beast with death traps for arms, or what's left over of the Councillor?))

((The death trap.)) Maria Louise said. ((I like a challenge.))

((I like her style, David.)) The Taxxon—Arbron—laughed. ((I guess that means that I'll be taking the Councillor.))

((Alright, let's get this over with, before the window closes.))

The four of us, the most unlikely of heroes, charged at the two warriors—one, an ambitious Yeerk controller, whose loyalty to the Empire had never seemed to waver, and the other was an insane creature from a distant planet, currently employed by the abomination, Sarphon 016. The humanoid—or deathtrap as my comrades preferred—didn't seem to anticipate an attack from behind, so naturally it wouldn't have seen a 500 pound lion and a nine foot Taxxon!

Neither Maria Louise, nor the lion seemed to think that they would have successfully killed the humanoid; they just wanted to buy some time.

The Councillor looked up at the two of us, weakly; his remaining eye shifted lazily from me to Arbron, unsure of whom to trust. He made a grunting noise with his mouth.

"Councillor, you must come with me." I said softly, leaning over to speak to the wounded, and possibly dying, Hork-Bajir. "We must cooperate with the renegades."

"Fool….I'd rather die!" the Councillor spat.

"You will die." I assured him. "But Sarphon will make sure that you die a dishonourable death. Sire, it makes sense for us to follow the renegades."

"I will not!" he choked. "You may as well leave me here!"

"Sire, if you stay here, Sarphon will be able to convince the Council to abandon the Empire." I said. "Would you want your Empire to fall to the hands of a traitor?"

The Councillor looked up at me as though he had been weighing out the options: staying on the doom Blade Ship meant the possibility of death and utter humiliation at the hands of the treasonous Sarphon 016—the one being the Councillor may hate more than any other in the galaxy—or, he could go against everything he and his race stood for and cooperate with the enemy.

"Help me up then…let's go!" he growled, struggling to get to his feet. "Go on then, renegade, help me!"

((My pleasure, I'm sure.)) Arbron muttered.

We dragged the wounded Councillor onto the platform. Maria Louise and the renegade leader abandoned their opponent and ran towards the window. The humanoid looked at the group of us and howled. We didn't hear the worst of the creature's inhuman cries. We had already left the Blade Ship.

**Part II: Asteria**

We appeared to be on a second Blade Ship, though this one had not been filled with controllers, a sadistic traitor, and five or six demonic warriors from the deepest corners of the universe. Instead, I found the same two Andalites, the Hork-Bajir, and a man of twenty-five or so, standing in the center of the Blade Ship's bridge. They looked at us, unsurprised by our sudden arrival, and came to our aid immediately. The Councillor, not being too fond of his current situation—being at the mercy of his worst enemies—but seemed grateful to have escaped the hands of the humanoid…or something close enough to being grateful. The Councillor fell to his knees, obviously having suffered a great deal during the battle, and mumbled something to the Hork-Bajir.

"He says he wants to rest." The Hork-Bajir said to the Lion. "What do you want me to do?"

The lion didn't answer immediately. His body seemed to be changing before our very eyes: his lion's face and mane morphing into the features of a human male; his eyes were no longer yellow, but a soft blue; his mane, while retaining some of its gold colour, withdrew into the male's skull; his snout became a human nose and his jaw had been replaced by that of a man's; the rest of his body followed, though the transformation took a great deal of time. Eventually, after all of the bone crunching and slurping noises that followed the morphing process, a five-foot-ten blonde male, dressed in black stood before us, apparently the only other human on board the ship.

"I'll take him to cell block A…but I think Alloran should accompany me…I don't want him to try anything…" the man said, staring at the Councillor. "On your feet Yeerk, let's go." The leader said, nudging at the wounded alien. The Councillor didn't even try to attack the renegade leader, he just sat there and took the human's abuse, not that he had much of a choice. The aged Andalite walked over to his Prince and the Councillor, holding a shredder in his hand. The Councillor looked up at the Andalite, mumbled some words that I could not hear, and got his feet. The Councillor walked to the end of the bridge with the Andalite and the human trailing behind him.

"You managed to get a hold of the Visser?" the other male said, visibly impressed. He looked a bit like the other man, though the resemblance was very slight; they could have been brothers. This man's hair was brown, not blonde, and his eyes were hazel. He had been relatively similar in height to the other male, but he had not been as physically fit as his comrade.

"We're not so sure that she is the Visser." The Hork-Bajir replied, looking at me suspiciously. "Do you think her host escaped?"

((I doubt it)) the Taxxon said, eyeing me with its hideous jelly eyes. ((She seems to think that she's on our side.))

((It's Yeerk filth!)) The young Andalite snarled. ((We should kill it now!))

"Easy there, Aximili." The Hork-Bajir said, calmly. "Let's hear her out."

"Well…" I said, coughing to clear my throat. "I'm not the Visser…and I'm not a Yeerk…I'm part of a division of the Resistance based in New York…my team and I sort of had our hands full…we were betrayed…it's a long, long story."

"So you were the one we were supposed to save?" the Hork-Bajir asked.

"Saved me?" I repeated.

"We got a distress signal from New York." The Hork-Bajir said. "There was some trouble down in the Yeerk Pool Complex. We were told by a reliable source that you and your friends were put on the Blade Ship of Visser Thirty-One."

((Reliable source?)) Maria Louise repeated. ((The only person who knew we were on that ship was Leeds…he's not exactly reliable.))

((We were contacted by a member of the Chee.)) Arbron said.

"Erek!" I cried, not intending to sound too excited.

"That's the one." The Hork-Bajir nodded. "Anyways, we managed to track the ship just as it had left Earth's atmosphere. We've been trailing it ever since."

"But we didn't expect Sarphon to be there too." The second human said bitterly. "I should have gone."

((If you went, the Yeerks would have definitely killed you.)) Arbron muttered. ((They really want you dead, Dallas.))

"I would have died honourably." Dallas mumbled. "At least then I would be useful."

((I have a question.)) Aximili asked. ((How did you manage to acquire the body of Visser Thirty-One, if you are not a Yeerk or a controller?))

"That is also a long story." I mumbled. "I haven't exactly gotten much sleep over the last two days…do you guys have a place for us to sleep?"

((I would like to hear this_ long_ story.)) Aximili insisted.

((And I would like to know some things about you!)) Maria Louise retorted. ((For starters, where are we?))

"You're in safe hands." Dallas assured. "If you are friends, that is."

"This is the Ship, Asteria." The Hork-Bajir answered.

"And who are you guys?" I asked. "Are you the Animorphs?"

That seemed to get a slight chuckle from most of the people in the room, excluding Maria Louise and I.

"The Animorphs haven't existed for eight years." Dallas laughed. "I'd like to think of us as…an extension of the original group."

"We are called the Galactamorphs by our leader." The Hork-Bajir continued. "We're a group of aliens that were once associated with the Animorphs…before they disbanded."

((Though, many members of the original line up are still alive.)) Arbron added. ((David, of course, was chosen by Tobias…Tobias was the leader back then…))

((I too served Prince David and Prince Tobias.)) Aximili said proudly. ((I am the younger brother of Prince Elfangor.))

((He says the name as though we're familiar with it.)) Maria Louise grunted.

((Elfangor was the greatest warrior of the Andalite race.)) Aximili said, insulted by our ignorance. ((He gave Prince Tobias the ability to morph when the war began. And it was Tobias who created the Animorphs.))

((Tobias is something of a nephew to Aximili.)) Arbron said. ((Though, we Andalites do not have a notion of such a status…))

((Andalite?)) I repeated. ((You're an Andalite?))

((Well…I was born an Andalite.)) Arbron said, sadly. I didn't need much of an explanation. ((I knew Elfangor before I was a nothlit…he was a good warrior…a brave soldier…the best in the galaxy.))

"My name is Toby." The Hork-Bajir said. "I am a Hork-Bajir seer. I led the Hork-Bajir resistance on Earth…David felt that my talents were needed in space…so I joined the group he christened, the Galactamorphs."

((It seems like a strange name for a group of warriors.))Maria Louise said. ((And here I thought Animorphs had been an odd name.))

"The name was Tobias' idea." The renegade leader—David, they called him—said, re-entering the room with the elder Andalite.

"We were just trying to make your guests feel at home, David." Dallas said. "You've done a poor job. You were never hospitable; remember what you did to the Chapman house?"

"Melissa didn't seem to mind." David shrugged. "Her father was the one complaining."

((Have you interrogated the human yet?)) Alloran asked, his four Andalite eyes staring at me with the utmost contempt.

((There's no reason for interrogation, Alloran.)) Arbron assured his Andalite friend. ((They were the humans Visser Thirty-One imprisoned on her ship.))

((Why are they still in morph?)) Alloran asked, eyeing Maria Louise. ((And how did this human acquire the DNA of Visser Thirty-One?))

"It's a long story." I repeated.

((I can't demorph.)) Maria Louise replied, darkly.

((Another nothlit!)) Alloran said, annoyed. ((We need morph capable soldiers in this war!))

"What about you?" Toby asked. "Why haven't you demorphed yet?"

"Well…." I began.

((Prince David, we're getting a message from Earth.)) Aximili said, turning to the ship's view screen. ((I am accepting the transmission.))

**Part III: Kamikaze Pilots**

The image of a thin, blonde hair woman appeared on the screen, and judging by the nervous expression on the woman's face, I could tell that she was not about to deliver good news. She didn't speak to David immediately, but looked down on us with a worried look in her eyes. She did not seem to be on a ship, but some sort of sitting room of a house; there was a fire place in the background, and a neat coffee table placed behind the woman. This woman was dressed in layers, wearing an attractive winter coat and a pair of brown boots, which meant that it was very cold wherever she was based. Finally, after looking at the group of us nervously, the woman spoke,

"We're not doing very well down here, David." The woman said anxiously. "Erek has just delivered a progress report from New York…David…the Yeerks have taken control of New York!"

"I see…" was all the man said in response. He did not scream or burst out in panic like this woman had done, nor did he seem to be the least bit bothered by this most devastating of news; the Yeerks had just taken over a very important city, perhaps one of the last remaining free cities on the planet, and yet he stood there looking as though the woman had just thrown an obvious fact his way. "And what about the Animal preserves?"

"Destroyed!" she cried out into tears. "David, there's nothing left of the place…all of the animals were slaughtered!"

((What about the Taxxon colony?)) Arbron asked.

"Every living thing was slaughtered or burned, Arbron!" the woman shouted. "There's nothing but hot ash and metal."

"How did the Yeerks get in?" Toby asked. "Did they use force?"

"No, somebody gave them the password!" the woman cried.

_Uh oh…_

"Melissa, you have to calm down, darling." Dallas said tenderly. "It's a minor setback, but the Yeerks will pay…I swear to it."

"They're taking over everywhere, Dallas!" Mellissa said, doubtfully. "New York is gone…soon there will be controllers all over the place!"

((I want to know how the Yeerks managed to get the password." Aximili wondered aloud.

"A member of the resistance could have been captured." Toby suggested. "If they're a controller, then the Yeerks would have access to that information…but not a lot of the resistance has ever seen the preserves…"

"I think that's our fault…" I said, chancing a look at my Taxxon comrade. "One of our friends had been infested with out our knowledge…and we were double crossed…" I sighed, and began to tell the Galactamorphs about the Alternamorphs raid of the Yeerk Pool Complex: how Leeds had planned the whole thing; how we met Elias during the Yeerk's attack on Free New York; how Leeds had been in contact with the Yeerks for weeks before the raid; how the Alternamorphs were captured, imprisoned and tortured accordingly by Leeds and the Visser; and how I managed to kill Dana/Visser Thirty-One, and my relationship with Dana in the past. Once I finished retelling the dreadful story— recalling the horrifying events that had taken place over the course of three or four days— the Galactamorphs stood silent; even Melissa, who had been crying through most of the telling of the story, had waited for me to continue. "…that's pretty much it…" I said, lamely.

"That's quite a story…" David said. "But how can we be sure that you're not lying?"

"You can't." I replied. "But you've got to trust me."

"David, we don't have much time." Melissa said. "We need a plan."

"Sounds like an idea." David muttered, sarcastically. "Does anyone have a plan?"

((We could call for some back up from my home world.)) Aximili suggested. ((Strength is in numbers, after all.))

((The Taxxons could help as well….)) Arbron added.

"Yes, and I'm sure the Hork-Bajir could help out too…" David said. "But mobilizing an army will just take up too much time…we don't have much time on our hands. Besides, we don't need another raid; those things never work out very well. We need something that will really hurt the Yeerks numbers…something that will lower morale…taking down a Kandrona would be the best option, but locating one would take far too much time."

"What about Tower Kandrona?" I asked.

"I don't think it generates Kandrona rays." David said, doubtfully. "I think it's more of a symbol than a defense mechanism…"

"Alright then…Kandrona rays are out then…" I muttered. "What about the Pool Ship?"

David looked at me sharply. "What about the Pool Ship?"

"While I was aboard the Visser's ship, I heard the Councillor say something to Sarphon 016 about a Pool Ship, and how its location was discovered by another Yeerk."

"And did the Councillor happen to mention the Pool Ship's location?" David asked, intrigued.

"Not from what I heard." I said. "But, from what Sarphon said, it doesn't seem too difficult to find."

"Well…I think I've got the beginnings of a plan forming in my noggin." David grinned. "Ax-man, Alloran, and Arbron—let's take a trip to the conference room…I've got a wild idea."

The group of aliens followed their fearless leader out of the bridge and disappeared from view. Dallas moaned once David was out of earshot, and Toby shook her head.

"What's up?" I asked. "Am I missing something?"

"David has a plan." Dallas groaned.

"Isn't that a good thing?" I asked.

Dallas and Toby exchanged glances, as though they were inviting the other to explain the situation.

"David's plans don't end well…" Melissa informed me. "He's…not right in the head when it comes to planning out a mission…he gets ideas…"

"Don't get me wrong," Dallas said. "David is a brilliant guy, and I have the utmost respect for him…but he's…"

"He's insane!" Toby cried.

((Give us an example of insane.)) Maria Louise said.

Dallas bit his lower lip before explaining; that should have been enough, but Maria Louise demanded more of an explanation.

"David isn't a very good pilot…" Dallas began. "He and Ax stole this ship from Visser One eight years ago…David realized that he now had a Blade Ship, and a great deal of Bug Fighters at his disposal…David's never been…safe, when it comes to power…" Dallas looked at Melissa and Toby for help.

"We had a mission a few years back." Toby said. "It was a raid on a Yeerk complex on the Taxxon world…David felt that there was only one way to destroy the complex…"

"What did he do?" I asked.

"Have you ever heard of a Kamikaze Pilot?" Melissa asked.


End file.
